A five-plus mile hike before breakfast? Who does that? Retired people staying in a beautiful state park with lots of lovely trails, that’s who!

The Cedar Falls trail has an access trail from the campground allowing us to leave the van in our shady site.

A deer family crossed our path at one point. We have been enjoying see them this trip. Glen Forest had the most sited on that evening walk there. We turned back at the bridge knowing the hike was getting long and breakfast was calling. We’ll see the “falls” later today as we know the spot will be picturesque but the falls will be non-existent this time of year.

Rock House

After breakfast, we drove to Rock House which is a short hike to a cave that sits near the site of the former Rock House Hotel. The hotel closed in 1910 and was demolished over a decade later, reportedly because prohibition was ruining profits. There are many names carved into the walls at the cave; current hikers and former hotel guests perhaps.

Ash Cave

Our next destination was Ash Cave which has an incredibly tall overhang with a sometimes-waterfall, but not today in the dry season. The path to the cave is paved to make it accessible to everyone, and the floor has enough sand to make one family bring beach toys for their little ones to use. The cave is spectacular!

Cedar Falls

This was the final stop on our day to see the “most famous” sites of Hocking Hills. There was a school group here when we arrived in the late afternoon. Again, this is a seasonal falls with just a trickle today. During wet seasons, this has the biggest volume of water spilling over the edge in the park, and the rocks show smooth, swirly patterns shaped by the water. The falls are named for cedar trees, but really the trees here are hemlock, not cedar. The name stuck, anyway.

I love small plants and fungi. This park has lots of examples of mosses and liverworts. Liverworts are rather delicate and I was excited to take pictures of two different species here.

I felt very fortunate to get the two last-minute reservations for this popular campground. It is very wooded and has trail access for hiking without driving around like we did today. We drove to parking lots to maximize our time in seeing the best features in the park. Much of the campground is currently closed and getting an upgrade with new electrical, water and sewer. Good job, Ohio!