When planning our trip, we tried to keep the driving times between places under five hours in order to maintain our sanity. As a result, we needed a stop or two between Mammoth Cave and Niagara Falls. We thought about Cincinatti, but cities aren’t really our thing since we live in arguably the best one in the world. So I googled “most beautiful place in Ohio” and Hocking Hills came up. It was a perfect location for a stop over, and it is a great place for hiking, photography, and enjoying nature. These were the beauties that we explored during our short visit.

Old Man’s Cave

Old Man’s Cave isn’t actually a cave, but rather an area in a gorge where the rock was carved out by water. It created a recessed area where a hermit once lived in the late 1700’s, giving it the name Old Man’s Cave. The entire gorge is breathtaking with bridges, exposed rock walls, and even a waterfall. We spent several hours wandering the trails and taking photos. 

Highlights: The entire gorge area is stunning, but the magnitude of the cave makes it the star of this hike.

Travel Tip:  The trails can get busy on a sunny weekend, so try to visit early morning, evening, or week days. This is especially true if you’re trying to photograph the area.

For Kids: Kids love a walk that includes a waterfall, although it was little more than a trickle during our visit. Climbing the rocky stairs and crossing the moss covered bridges is fun too. And if you need to bribe them, there’s a place with 24 flavors of soft ice cream a couple miles away.

Rock House

Rock House is huge tunnel along the middle of a 150 foot cliff. It is 25 feet high and about 200 feet long, with many large holes that give the feeling of windows. It’s actually the only true cave in Hocking Hills State Park!

Highlights: It’s a huge rock that you can walk through with lots of “windows”. Awesome.

Travel Tip: It’s very dark and damp inside the rock house, so be especially careful if you have bad knees or ankles. Also, watch children closely. There are lots of ledges and rocks with a long drop off.

For Kids: Let them climb and play! As long as it was on the inside with no possibility of a long fall, we let them climb and explore. Jack was convinced he discovered a passageway to go deeper!

Conkles Hollow Nature Preserve

Conkle’s Hollow State Nature Preserve is an awesome place to get out for a walk with the whole family. There is a 1 mile Gorge Trail that follows the river through the valley or a 2.5 mile Rim Trail that makes a loop around the entire top. Both provide opportunities for viewing the wildlife and plants of the area.

Highlights: If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m a sucker for a scenic view so we opted for the  Conkles Hollow Rim Trail, a beautiful 2.5 mile hike around the top of the gorge, with plenty of lookouts to enjoy.

Travel Tip:  Free guided tours are offered here several times each week. Check in at Old Man’s Cave Visitors Center for a complete schedule. We missed it thanks to a bacon and egg breakfast at our campsite, but at least we weren’t hungry!

For Kids: Grab the area nature guide that is available at the trailhead, and then try to find the many plants and animals while you walk. 

We we both surprised at how much there was to see and do in Hocking Hills, Ohio. It really is a hidden gem!