Hocking Hills State Park and Hocking Hills State Forest are located in Hocking county in south eastern Ohio. The sandstone bedrock here is the remains of an ancient sea. Numerous streams have carved their way through the sandstone over the years creating many spectacular gorges. The park consists of several separate areas which are all loosely joined together by the state forest. The five best known and most visited areas are Old Man's Cave, Ash Cave, Cedar Falls, The Rockhouse, Conkle's Hollow and Cantwell Cliffs. There are also numerous other areas to visit and things to see and do in the area.

Conkle's Hollow

The Hocking Hill's area is full of gorges and valleys called hollows. Conkle's Hollow is over 200 feet deep at places, said to be the deepest hollow in Ohio by some, and is only 100 feet wide at places. The cool microclimate in the gorge supports plants not normally found in Ohio. In Spring several waterfalls can be found in the gorge. The mostly paved gorge trail is 1/2 mile long one way and leads to the main fall which runs later than the others, but dries up in the summer. The much more challenging 2 mile rim loop trail skirts the edge of the hollow. There are many spectacular views and steep drop offs. It also gives you a peek into the inaccessible upper hollow.

Cantwell Cliffs

The Cantwell Cliffs area features a deep gorge with steep sandstone cliffs. The trails wind there way along the rim, down in the gorge and through interesting rock formations in between. In the Spring the area features at least two waterfalls.

This page has been accessed 28023 times.
Last Modified: Saturday, 27-Mar-2010 19:12:30 MDT.