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Distance: 6 miles
Rating: Easy-Moderate
When you are as focused on hiking as I tend to be, you manage to find opportunities in some of the most unexpected places. My sister and I both decided to take some vacation time to go visit our aunt and uncle out in Columbus, Ohio. This was a special trip for Jill and me, as we don’t get to see Karen and Anthony as often as we’d like to. In addition, I was excited to see the beginnings of the beautiful mid-western autumn, which presents leaf colors rarely seen Colorado. Just like back home, Ohio was experiencing Indian summer conditions and I was ready to take advantage of the warm weather. So we packed up the car and headed to Ohio’s hilly region for one of the more interesting hikes of the year.
Hocking Hills State Park is a famous area about an hour and a half south of Columbus in Ohio’s more sparsely populated hill country. Although the park is named after the surrounding hills, the major attractions are a series of caves, waterfalls, and gorges (hollows). The park is separated into six areas in the immediate vicinity of Old Man Cave,
Cedar Falls, Conkle’s Hollow, Ash Cave, Cantwell’s Cliffs, and Rock House.
Unique geological conditions make the various Hocking Hills areas so exciting to visit. Over time, water has eroded through the thick layers of Blackhand sandstone to create narrow, relatively shallow gorges (on average, about 150 ft deep). In this region, the sandstone has three layers: resilient upper and lower layers and a more erosion-prone middle layer. The park’s famous recess caves and hollows are the result of the erosion of this middle layer. The upper layer creates the sheer cliffs along the sides of the gorges, while the lower layer creates the often smooth gray floor. Continuing the long erosion process, small creeks run through the gorges, creating picturesque falls in several areas. The sheer rock cliffs and valley floors are lined with thick foliage rarely seen in the Rocky Mountains. Hemlock and birch create a dense canopy above while ferns and thick moss thrive in the cool and humid low lying areas.
For our hike, we decided to do the six mile loop from the Old Man Cave area Cedar Falls and back. This route follows the Grandma Gatewood Trail along the bottom of the gorge
to its connection with the Buckeye Trail and the southeasterly route to Cedar Falls. The trail brings visitors past the Old Man Cave area’s most famous sites: the eponymous large recess cave, The Sphinx Head, and two sets of falls (Upper and Lower). Old Man Cave gets its name from a late 18th Century settler who moved into the area from West Virginia. His plan had been to set up a trading post, but instead he ended up living in the cave for the rest of his life. Supposedly, the man was actually buried somewhere in the cave. Old Man Cave is perched up on the side of the main gorge, about halfway between the floor and rim.
The far end of the loop is at Cedar Falls, which sits at the opposite side of the main L-shaped gorge. Cedar Falls gets its name from a misconception: early visitors to the area mistook the local hemlock trees for cedars. The falls themselves are really quite fascinating. Over the years, the cascading water has created several alcoves and terraces in the pliable middle layer sandstone. Mid-day sunlight reflecting off of the pool at Cedar Fall’s base creates intricate rippling images
in the dark recesses. Years of erosion has worn the floor of the gorge to an almost tile-like smoothness in the vicinity of the falls.
From the Old Man Cave Visitor’s Center, the trail descends into the gorge along a series of paved steps and ramps. Even in mid-day, the gorge floor can be quite dark thanks to the overhanging rock and thick forest above. At the bottom of the steps, head left if you want to visit the Upper Falls, or right to continue on to Old Man Cave. The trail sticks close to the shallow Old Man Creek as it heads south. There are a series of concrete bridges that pass over the creek along this part of the route. The trail climbs and dips repeatedly along the entire length, but there are few real steep sections to be found. Hikers will pass through a man-made tunnel on the descent into a small basin just below Old Man Cave (to the northwest). From here, a bridge crosses the creek and visitors can choose to get a closer look at the cave and exit the gorge. Continuing along the trail at the gorge floor, the Lower Falls comes
up moments after leaving Old Man Cave. The falls are visible from the trail, but I recommend crossing over a unique old stone bridge to the right to get a closer look. During this time of the year, the creek is fairly dry, so the falls are not particularly powerful. After leaving the Lower Falls, the trail turns into the Buckeye Trail and enters state forest land. At this point, the gorge opens up and takes on more of a narrow valley profile (fewer sheer cliffs on either side). At about the half-way point, the trail makes an abrupt turn to the southeast as it continues along Queer Creek to Cedar Falls. This part of the trail is much more remote and doesn’t tend to see the same foot traffic as the immediate areas around Old Man Cave or Cedar Falls. The gorge gets more pronounced just before reaching Cedar Falls at the southeastern end of the loop. From here, hikers can either return along the gorge floor or climb up to the trail that runs along the rim. We opted for the latter, which requires climbing up a few flights of stairs to the Cedar Falls parking area, then
crossing back over the gorge via a short suspension bridge. The Gorge Overlook Trail is relatively flat and stays within the thick forest for most of the trip back to Old Man Cave. Contrary to its name, there are few places where the gorge is actually visible. There are a couple of short steeper parts to this trail, including the climb up to Rose Lake. The lake sits in a nice clearing at around the halfway point. The trail continues over a spillway before re-entering the forest to the north. Near the end, the route passes over another suspension bridge that offers nice views down into the gorge below.
For a longer hike, the Buckeye Trail continues to the south from Cedar Falls to Ash Cave. I’m not certain about the mileage for this hike, but based on estimates from the area map, it looks like it may be about another 5 or 6 miles round trip. Along our route, hikers can also add in short side trips to the Upper Falls (just north of the Visitor’s Center), or Broken Falls at the confluence of Old Man Creek and Queer Creek. Old Man Cave, Cedar Falls, and Ash Cave
are the only three sections of Hocking Hills State Park that are connected via a continuous trail. All of the other sections must be reached by driving.
Keep in mind that the gorge floor is typically quite a bit cooler than the surrounding areas. It might not be a bad idea to bring a long sleeve shirt or jacket when visiting the area in the spring or fall.
Directions: From Columbus, take US 33 southeast to State Route 664. Follow SR 664 for about 14 miles southwest to the Old Man Cave parking area and Visitor’s Center.
*PHOTOS BY ANTHONY PANETH
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