Ohio’s most un-Ohio place has 330-million-year-old caves and it’s all free

They’re an hour from Columbus

Hocking Hills State Park covers 2,356 acres in southeastern Ohio, and every trail, parking lot and hiking area costs nothing to enter.

Seven different areas spread across the park, each one carved from sandstone that started forming when this part of Ohio sat beneath a shallow sea.

You get caves, waterfalls, gorges and cliffs that rise hundreds of feet, all within about an hour’s drive from Columbus.

The park stays open dawn to dusk, every day of the year, and millions of people come through annually. Most of them didn’t expect Ohio to look like this.

Sand from an ancient sea built these cliffs

Every formation you see in Hocking Hills started as sand on the floor of a shallow sea 330 million years ago. That sand compressed into Blackhand sandstone, and water did the rest.

Millions of years of erosion and freeze-thaw cycles cut the gorges, hollowed the caves and shaped the cliffs. People lived here long before any of that had a name.

The Adena culture inhabited the area more than 7,000 years ago, and the word “Hocking” comes from the Native American word “Hockhocking,” meaning “bottle,” after the shape of the river gorge.

Ohio started buying land for the park in 1924, beginning with 146 acres around Old Man’s Cave.

A hermit from Tennessee gave Old Man’s Cave its name

Old Man’s Cave sits on State Route 664, and it pulls more visitors than any other spot in the park.

The trail drops you into a Blackhand sandstone gorge, past the Upper Falls, over a stone bridge and down to the Lower Falls.

Richard Rowe, a hermit from the Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee, moved into the large recess cave around 1796. His family had come north to set up a trading post on the Ohio River.

He never left the cave. They say he’s buried beneath a ledge inside it.

Along the way, you pass rock formations with names like the Devil’s Bathtub and Sphinx Head.

Ash Cave stretches 700 feet wide like a stone cathedral

At 700 feet wide, 100 feet deep and 90 feet high, Ash Cave is the largest recess cave in Ohio. A seasonal waterfall drops over the rim and hits a pool on the cave floor.

The trail to reach it is paved and wheelchair accessible.

Early settlers found massive piles of ash inside, left over from centuries of Native American campfires.

The acoustics carry sound across the entire chamber, and settlers held Sunday worship services from a spot called Pulpit Rock.

Cedar Falls got its name from a mistake

Cedar Falls pushes the highest volume of water of any waterfall in Hocking Hills. After heavy rain, water pours over a wide ledge of blackened sandstone with real force.

Early settlers called it “Cedar” Falls because they thought the hemlock trees growing nearby were cedars. The name stuck.

In winter, the falls freeze into ice formations that draw photographers from across the Midwest. Getting down to the base takes some work, with stairs and a rock-scramble section near the bottom.

Rock House is the park’s only true cave

Every other “cave” in Hocking Hills is a recess, an overhang open on one side. Rock House is different.

It sits halfway up a 150-foot sandstone cliff and runs about 200 feet long, 25 feet high and up to 30 feet wide. Seven window-like openings in the rock wall let sunlight pour in, so the interior glows even at midday.

Large sandstone columns hold up the roof.

The cave stays cool in summer, and both Native Americans and settlers used it as shelter over thousands of years.

Conkle’s Hollow drops 200 feet between vertical walls

Vertical cliffs rise more than 200 feet on both sides of Conkle’s Hollow, making it one of the deepest gorges in Ohio. In places, the gap between the walls narrows to just 300 feet.

W.J. Conkle carved his name and the date 1797 into the sandstone, and the preserve still carries his name. The lower gorge trail runs along the valley floor and is wheelchair accessible.

The upper rim trail climbs to some of the highest cliff views in the park, but it’s strenuous and not suited for young children. No pets allowed.

Squeeze through the rocks at Cantwell Cliffs

Cantwell Cliffs sits 17 miles north of Old Man’s Cave, and that distance keeps the crowds thin. Cliffs rise about 150 feet on three sides of the gorge.

You hike through narrow passageways formed by massive slump blocks that broke away from the main cliff face. One gap, called Fat Woman’s Squeeze, threads you through the rock to views deep inside the gorge.

A seasonal waterfall spills over the roof of a large recess cave, and the best time to catch it is after heavy rain or during spring snowmelt.

A 67-year-old grandma blazed the trail that ties it together

The Grandma Gatewood Trail runs six miles through the park, connecting Old Man’s Cave, Cedar Falls and Ash Cave. It’s named after Emma Gatewood, born in 1887 in Gallia County, Ohio.

In 1955, at 67, she became the first woman to solo-hike the entire 2,168-mile Appalachian Trail. She carried a homemade denim bag with a blanket, a shower curtain and basic supplies.

She went on to complete the trail three times, the first person ever to do it. The park designated the route as the Grandma Gatewood Memorial Trail in January 1981.

Look up at the stars from John Glenn Astronomy Park

The John Glenn Astronomy Park sits inside Hocking Hills State Park, named after the astronaut and U.S. Senator.

This part of Ohio is one of the few spots in the state where the night sky stays mostly free of light pollution. On clear Friday and Saturday nights from March through late November, the park runs free programs.

You can look through a large telescope at planets and stars, or just bring a blanket and lie back. No equipment needed.

It’s the only part of Hocking Hills that stays open after dark.

The new lodge replaced one that burned down in 2016

A fire destroyed the original 1970 lodge in 2016, and the replacement opened in autumn 2022. The new lodge has 81 guest rooms, a full-service restaurant, indoor and outdoor pools and a fitness center.

If you want something smaller, 40 cabins and about 200 campsites with electric and full hookup options spread through the park.

The Old Man’s Cave Visitor Center has interactive displays and a raptor enclosure with resident hawks and owls.

Weekends get packed, especially during fall foliage season in mid-October, so arrive before 8 a.m. or come midweek.

The flat part of Ohio stopped at the glaciers

Hocking Hills sits in the unglaciated portion of Ohio, which is why the terrain looks nothing like the flat farmland to the north.

The cool, moist gorges preserve plant species you’d normally find much farther north, including eastern hemlock and Canada yew. More than 25 miles of one-way looped trails cross the seven hiking areas.

The Grandma Gatewood Trail doubles as part of the Buckeye Trail, the North Country Scenic Trail and America’s Discovery Trail.

Rose Lake, the only lake in the park, is open for paddling and fishing for bass, bluegill and crappie.

Hit the trails at Hocking Hills State Park

You can find Hocking Hills State Park at 19852 State Route 664 in Logan, Ohio. From Columbus, take U.S. Route 33 southeast and you’re there in about an hour.

Every hiking area is free and open year-round from dawn to dusk.

The Visitor Center at Old Man’s Cave keeps daily hours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Bring sturdy shoes, because the trails include stairs, uneven rock and wet surfaces.

Check the official website before you go for seasonal trail updates.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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