🥾 ActiveLong weekend · from Columbus, OH
Hocking Hills: Ohio's Sandstone Gorge Country
An hour southeast of Columbus, the Hocking Hills region of eastern Ohio is built on the same Black Hand sandstone geology that produced the canyon country of the American Southwest — 325 million years ago, a delta deposited the sand that became the resistant caprock protecting the softer shales below. The result is a landscape of recessed caves, waterfalls, and gorges unique in the Midwest. Old Man's Cave, Cedar Falls, Ash Cave, and Conkle's Hollow together form the most concentrated series of sandstone gorge features east of the Mississippi. Hocking Hills State Park is consistently rated the most visited state park in Ohio and the best hiking destination in the Midwest.
Day 1 — Old Man's Cave and Cedar Falls: the park's signature gorge circuitDay 2 — Ash Cave, Conkle's Hollow, and Cantwell CliffsDay 3 — Rock House and Hocking Hills State Forest canopy
Day 1 — Hocking Hills
Day 1 — Hocking Hills
🚗 1 hr driving📍 5 stops
🌅
Morning
🚗
Drive
Columbus, OH → Hocking Hills State Park
1 hr
Old Man's Cave
★ Reviews →The centerpiece of Hocking Hills State Park — a series of sandstone recesses, waterfalls, and a lower gorge carved by Queer Creek through the Black Hand sandstone. Old Man's Cave (named for a 19th-century hermit who lived in the recess) is a 200-foot wide cave recess 50 feet deep; the Upper Falls and Lower Falls bracket the gorge above and below. The 1.5-mile gorge trail through the complete system is the most dramatic hiking in Ohio. The sandstone walls of the gorge are covered in seeps and hanging gardens of ferns and mosses unique to this microclimate.
~1.5 hrs📍 See location
🍽️
Lunch
Cedar Falls
★ Reviews →The tallest waterfall in Hocking Hills State Park at 50 feet — Cedar Falls drops into a large plunge pool in a sandstone recess on Queer Creek 1.5 miles southeast of Old Man's Cave. The trail connecting Old Man's Cave to Cedar Falls is the most popular day hike in the park (3 miles round trip); the combination includes 5 bridges, multiple smaller cascades, and the full gorge ecosystem. The misnamed 'cedar' trees around the falls are actually Canadian hemlocks, among the southernmost occurrence of the species.
~2 hrs📍 See location
☀️
Afternoon
Hocking Hills Canopy Tour
★ Reviews →A zip-line tour through the Hocking Hills tree canopy with platforms in the hemlock and white pine forest above the gorge — 11 zip lines and 9 sky bridges at up to 60 feet above the forest floor, with views into the gorge below. The canopy tour is the most popular non-hiking activity in the park and requires advance reservation.
~1 hr📍 See location
🌙
Evening
Olde Dutch
★ Reviews →Family-friendly operation serving Amish-style comfort food, either à la carte & or at the buffet.
~1 hr📍 See location
Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls
★ Reviews →The most highly regarded accommodation in Hocking Hills — a cabin and inn property in the forest above Cedar Falls with a farm-to-table restaurant (the Kindred Spirits Restaurant) using produce from the property's organic gardens. The cabin-style accommodations have wood stoves; the restaurant uses wood-fired cooking for the evening meal. Consistently rated one of the best inns in Ohio.
~1.5 hrs📍 See location
Day 2 — Ash Cave & Conkle's Hollow
Day 2 — Ash Cave & Conkle's Hollow
📍 5 stops
🌅
Morning
Ash Cave
★ Reviews →The largest recess cave in Ohio — a semicircular sandstone amphitheater 700 feet wide, 100 feet deep, and 90 feet high, with a waterfall dropping from the sandstone lip into a pool on the cave floor. The trail from the parking area follows a creek to the cave entrance; the cave's interior supports a permanent population of cave crickets and Allegheny woodrats. The acoustics in the cave recess amplify the waterfall sound; the cave was used as a meeting place by the Delaware people and later by the Civilian Conservation Corps workers who built the trail system.
~1.5 hrs📍 See location
🍽️
Lunch
Conkle's Hollow State Nature Preserve
★ Reviews →A narrow sandstone gorge 200 feet deep and only 100 feet wide at its narrowest — the gorge floor trail (0.75 miles round trip) follows the creek between vertical sandstone walls colonized by ferns, mosses, and hemlocks. The rim trail (2.5 miles loop) follows the gorge edge with views down into the gorge from the caprock. Conkle's Hollow has the highest walls of any recess in Ohio and supports rare plant species found nowhere else in the state.
~30 min📍 See location
☀️
Afternoon
Cantwell Cliffs
★ Reviews →The most remote of the Hocking Hills features — a series of sandstone cliffs and overhangs in the northern section of the park, 8 miles from the main visitor area. The trail (0.6 miles down, 0.6 miles upper rim) includes a scramble through a narrow passage called the 'Fat Woman's Squeeze' and views from the sandstone rim over the gorge below. The isolation of Cantwell Cliffs means smaller crowds than the Old Man's Cave area even on peak weekends.
~1.5 hrs📍 See location
🌙
Evening
Hocking Hills Diner
★ Reviews →The classic diner for the Hocking Hills area, a few miles from Old Man's Cave — home-cooked comfort food, solid burgers, and breakfast served all day. The reliable local option after a long day on the trails.
~1 hr📍 See location
Old Man's Cave Chalets
★ Reviews →Cabin and chalet rentals within walking distance of Old Man's Cave — the most convenient overnight base for a multi-day Hocking Hills hiking itinerary. Dinner at the Rock Climbing Café or carry-in provisions from the Logan grocery stores (25 minutes north).
~30 min📍 See location
Day 3 — Rock House & Drive North
Day 3 — Rock House & Drive North
🚗 1 hr 10 min driving📍 1 stop
🌅
Morning
Rock House
★ Reviews →The only true cave (rather than recess cave) in Hocking Hills — a 200-foot tunnel through the sandstone rock at mid-cliff height, with seven arched windows overlooking the gorge below. The trail reaches the cave entrance by a staircase cut into the cliff face; the cave interior runs the full 200-foot length with natural light from the window openings. Rock House was used as a shelter by the Delaware, as a hideout by horse thieves in the early 1800s, and later as a tavern. The combination of the tunnel cave form and the cliff-face windows makes it unlike any other site in Hocking Hills.
~1.5 hrs📍 See location
🌙
Evening
🚗
Drive
Hocking Hills → Columbus, OH
1 hr 10 min
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