Hocking Hills State Park: Lodge, Ash Cave, and Cedar Falls

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My grandma was born 100 years ago today. Some of us had casually been talking about having a family reunion (our last was in 2016). My aunt mentioned that it might be nice to do something in honor of my grandma's would-be 100th birthday. So, we decided to plan a reunion in honor of her birthday! Last summer, I spent some time putting together possibilities for a reunion and sent it to my aunts and uncles. The idea they liked best was Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio. We lucked out that a new lodge was opening at the state park in October 2022. It meant we could utilize that option for the reunion in July 2023! About half of our family opted to stay in the lodge. In addition to lodge rooms, there is a restaurant, a large veranda where groups can gather, a ping-pong table, and an indoor and outdoor pool. About half of our family opted to stay in the cabins near the lodge. The cabins have separate bedrooms, kitchens, fire pits, and grills. Cabin guests can use the pools, but it's a decent walk or a short drive to the lodge to use the pool. So, there are perks to both. A couple family members stayed off site at a house rental, which worked for larger families.

It's impossible to keep a large group together for multiple days. Some families want to relax and swim. Some want to sit and chat and catch up with loved ones. Some want to explore and hike and be active. So, we scheduled one big lunch for today so that everyone can come together, and then we let everyone generally do their own thing and come together as they please. Lunch was wonderful. About sixty of us made it to the lunch. I had the chance to see many loved ones. There are some cousins I see very regularly, some I see semi-regularly, and others I rarely get to see (we're a large family!). It means a lot to see all of them, but I especially enjoyed seeing some cousins I haven't seen in decades. I even met some of their grown kids I'd never had the chance to meet before!

After lunch and our big group photos, my family of four decided to explore the state park and try Ash Cave hike. I noticed that Ash Cave hike was listed as an accessible hike, and I wanted to try it today so I could report back to family members who might benefit from that option. The Ash Cave trail is about a 15 minute drive from the cabins and lodge. There is a small parking lot at the trail head, right off the road. When we arrived, that small lot was completely full. There is a second, larger lot on the other side of the road. It had plenty of parking spaces, a picnic shelter, and restrooms. We parked there and crossed the road to the trailhead.

The trail is about a half mile loop, and the falls are about halfway through the loop. From what I understand from reading online, Hocking Hills turned many of its trail loops into one-way loops during the pandemic. It actually helped with problems like erosion and safety, so they have kept most of their trails as one-way routes. However, if anyone has any sort of problem and needs to turn back, they can absolutely do so, even if it involves going the "wrong way." That's important for this hike because only half of it is accessible. When you start the one-way trail, the first half of the hike is on a fairly flat, smooth, paved path that is basically a wide sidewalk. This part of the trail is labeled, "easy." There are outhouses close to the start. You don't have to walk long before you see the waterfall. You can see the waterfall from the trail, but if you can walk on sloped dirt, you can get very close to the waterfall and even touch it as it comes down. It was beautiful, and we spent a bit of time here enjoying the beauty and also snapping a few pictures. If you need the accessible path, you can turn around and head back on the paved trail back to the parking lot. Otherwise, you continue on the loop by going underneath the waterfall and then climbing stairs up out of the falls. After climbing upwards, you then have to descend back down to the parking area, which involves more stairs and slopes. Although the path is still short, it's considered "moderate" in difficulty.

On our drive to Ash Cave, I had noticed a sign for Cedar Falls. When we finished the Ash Cave hike, I pulled out my map of the park to see what it would entail to see Cedar Falls. The Cedar Falls hike looked to be short, so we decided to check it out. It's only about 2 miles from Ash Cave, so it's easy to do both. We found that Cedar Falls has a large parking lot, restrooms with flushing toilets, and a water fountain with a bottle refilling station. The Cedar Falls loop is only about half a mile. Like the Ash Cave Trail, it's one way. Also like the Ash Cave Trail, you go clockwise. However, unlike the Ash Cave Trail, this one is not accessible. There are a lot of stairs on this hike. In fact, we started out by going down these terraced trail stairs. We reached a creek and walked along the creek a small ways. We crossed a couple of bridges, saw a couple of snapping turtles, and then we arrived at Cedar Falls. The falls are bigger than Ash Cave, and they're unusual because they start out as a single waterfall, split in two, and then come back together. They land in a large pool of water, and it's beautiful. Unlike at Ash Cave, Cedar Falls had signs up warning people not to swim or wade in the water. Even though we couldn't explore the water, I liked Cedar Falls better. From the falls, if you continue the loop, it's a fairly short hike back to the parking lot, but you have to work your way back up. This part of the hike was pretty neat, but definitely more difficult than the first part of the hike. We had to climb between a wall and boulders at one point. We climbed up a few staircases, and we wandered through some rock formations. It was beautiful and fun. As a heads up, the trail spit us out at a different part of the parking lot than where we started. It wasn't a big deal, but I was a little confused when we first emerged! Anyway, it was a really nice hike, and I recommend it for someone who wants to do a short hike (although the last part might not be good to do with small kids!).

After our hikes, we took the kids for a swim with some of their second cousins. We grilled out at our cabin for dinner, and we ended the day with a campfire and s'mores with my brother and his family. All in all, I'd say it was a really nice day seeing family and exploring this beautiful state park.

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Photos

Ash Cave
Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio

Ash Cave - Hocking Hills State Park
You can see the stairs under the falls that lead to the second section of the loop.

Cedar Falls Trail
Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio