OLD
MAN
We
spent Saturday morning driving through Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio. We reached Logan, Ohio early that
afternoon. First
we checked in at the Campbell Cove Campground.
Unfortunately, reserving a spot at the state park campground on a
weekend requires a two night minimum stay. We were able to book just one night at
Campbell Cove. It is a lovely
campground, too, with tent sites in an impressive grove of white pines next to
Lake Logan. We really liked the
campground, except for the strict 2mph speed limit, which was a little
absurd.
After
setting up camp we headed over to the Old Man’s Cave section of Hocking Hills
State Park. It was a sunny Saturday
afternoon, and the immense parking lot was packed. There were people everywhere! We did a loop hike, descending down through
the massive rock overhang of Old Man’s Cave itself. We continued down to the bottom of the gorge,
where we found a small waterfall. We
continued downstream to the Lower Falls.
The creek was just a trickle here, but it was still lovely thanks to
some early fall color. From there we
continued down the gorge, following the base of an impressive cliff. We continued on to a tributary waterfall,
which was dry.
From
there we went back up the gorge, following trails on the east rim. We went all the way to the Upper Falls, which
is quite picturesque. The light was
terrible though, so I didn’t attempt photos.
We hiked downstream from there, passing the Devil’s Bathtub and a short,
shallow slot canyon.
From
there, we drove back to Logan and continued north to the Boch
State Nature Preserve. Hiking here
requires obtaining a permit in advance.
We’d secured our permit a week or so earlier. The Nature Preserve has several trails, but I
was only interested in doing the short hike to Robinson Falls. This waterfall used to be called Corkscrew
Falls, but it was renamed for the property owner that agreed to allow public
access to the waterfall. Corkscrew Falls
is clearly the better name, as it is a waterfall within a slot canyon. Under the circumstances though, I think it is
reasonable to call it Robinson Falls.
The
hike from the parking area only takes a couple of minutes. Reaching the creek is easy, but getting to a
good viewpoint of the waterfall requires a bit of rock hopping. It is a lovely 10’ waterfall in an unusual,
mossy slot canyon.
I
took a bunch of photos before heading back.
We returned to the campground at dusk, made dinner, and enjoyed another
campfire. We went to bed early, as we
wanted to hit some additional areas in Hocking Hills the next morning.
We
broke camp early on Sunday and drove back over to Old Man’s Cave. I did the quick hike back up to the Upper
Falls just to get photos. The light was
much better early in the morning. From
there we drove over to Cedar Falls. At
the end of that short hike we were rewarded with a nice view of the one of the
more impressive waterfalls in the area.
Next
up was a short hike to Ash Cave. This is
a big overhang / rock house that features a low volume waterfall. By the time we finished that hike it had
started raining. The weather was
expected to be wet for the next couple of days, so we figured we might as well
get used to it.
Our
last stop was at the Rock House. Christy
skipped this hike, as it features a lot of stairs, which are hard on her
knees. The highlight of this hike is the
Rock House itself, which is actually more of a true cave. It was a busy place despite the rainy
weather, but it was still one of my favorite parts of our visit to the Hocking
Hills.
From
there we drove to Lancaster and stopped for breakfast. Afterwards we drove up through Columbus,
Erie, PA, and on to Buffalo, NY for dinner at a Thai restaurant in a neat
little part of town. Then it was on to
the Branches of Niagara Campground. We
would be spending all of the next day at Niagara Falls.
Back to Ohio
Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports
Please remember to Leave No Trace!