As a resident of the Hocking Hills, it is difficult to imagine not hiking through a high field or following a woodland ridge around a rock ledge to discover a new route to a creek below. It is difficult to imagine not walking in these hills . . . but twice in the last five years our family has been hit with disabilities that have made mobility an awkward if not impossible thing. In one case, with my right knee shattered in an accident, I spent months learning to walk again. In the other, my son became paralyzed; unable to walk, he underwent emergency surgery to remove a growth compressing his spinal chord. In both cases, "walking" was a wish for a future day. Until that day, we had to learn other ways to enjoy seeing our hills. Now, with a greater empathy for those with handicaps or limiting disabilities---or even those with children too small to take any great distances---I would like to share some of the secrets on how we managed to enjoy the Hocking Hills.
As the main activity of your travels, driving should not be short-changed. Try to see your car less as a vehicle for your destination and more as part of your exploration, a way of seeing these beautiful natural areas. While 664 is the most popular artery into and out of the state parks, it is not by any means a tremendously scenic road with its increased number of billboards aimed at tourism. But there are some very scenic ways into the hills, worthy of keeping both a camera and binoculars close at hand for wildlife and nature scenes---in fact, during the second week of March, while writing this article, I photographed a dozen deer in a group and a pack of 50 wild turkey in fields along roadsides in the Hocking Hills.
If you're coming down 33, turning off before 664 at 374 can be a true joy. This windy, well-paved road weaves first up to Rock House State Park, then basically finds its way over numerous scenic hilltops as it dips down to pass by nearly all of the state parks in the Hocking Hills. It merges with both 180 and 664 for a short time, and passes by Grandma Faye's, one of the few stores in the hills for a sandwich and a soda. Eventually, 374 ends at 56, just a few hundred yards from Ash Cave, a good 25 miles from where it leaves 33. For many residents here, 374 is the true road for the Hocking Hills.
Of course, there are other road journey, other scenic routes. After 374, the next exit on 33 is 180. By taking 180, turning right then an immediate left, you will find yourself on Lake Logan Road following along a peaceful 800 acre lake for a couple miles before coming out on 664 near the Hocking Hills' Welcome Center. If a side trip to the welcome center isn't on your agenda, the next left just beyond Lake Logan Road is Pleasant Valley. Turning here off 180 instead will take you to Wildcat Hollow, a right turn in about one mile. Wildcat Hollow is one of the few roads in the Hocking Hills that goes all the way through a rock hollow. It passes numerous rock outcroppings. One of the ledges close to the road provides shelter for sheep on an old family farm. Wildcat Hollow is gravel in some parts but well maintained, and where it comes out on pavement, you take a right and at the next stop sign you will be on 678. A left here goes through Gibsonville and meets with 374 on the way to 664.
If you do happen to begin your Hocking Hills tour on 664, the first tight turn left, about two miles off 33, will provide you will alternatives as well. Here, Starr Route goes straight ahead, eventually crossing Pleasant Valley and meeting with 678 after passing the north entrance to Wildcat Hollow and rising to some of the higher farmlands of the hills. The road going right, where 664 turns, left dead ends into a nice picnic area on the back side of Lake Logan. Continuing south on 664, the next right on a paved road is Big Pine. Turning here at the Hocking House will take you through some heavily wooded bottom roads to Conkles Hollow and the state's authorized rappelling ledges in the area. Staying on Big Pine past 374 will drop you on 56 midway between South Bloomingville and Laurelville. While there is no straight road in the hills, most eventually meet up with a state road, and most can be handled reasonably in a car. All of them are scenic, providing you with a sense of solitude . . . even in a car.
Once out of the car, both Ash Cave and Conkles Hollow provide the least strenuous walks. Both have trails going directly from the parking lot to caverns at the back of the hollow. Ash Cave actually has a wide and well-paved wheelchair accessible walkway (see PHOTO GALLERY). Conkles Hollow, while not wheelchair accessible, at least is fairly level and good for people with less endurance to hill climbing, and those with children. Another advantage to both of these is that rim trails on both are more strenuous and provide other hiking opportunities for the more active people in your party. Old Man's Cave has a wheelchair accessible walkway as well, but for the most part its trail only provides a limited view of the rock hollow as travels above it and back from it.
Just west of Ash Cave is another drive through a narrow hollow. It can be spotted by a gravel road going to the left at an old log cabin. This road passes by Ash Cave Cabins through a narrow gorge that winds its way along rock, up a water fall, to the top of a hill and down in another hollow where it comes out on Goose Creek; a right here will take you back to South Bloomingville at 664 and 56 in two miles.
One last thing to consider is that if you chose one way into the hills, you may consider another way out. Visitors who come into the hills off of any of the U.S. 33 exits (374, 180, 664, 93) may find that by the time they get to Old Man's Cave or Ash Cave they need to consider turning around and beginning a journey home. Here, the best advice for getting home may be to keep going. 56 west is a nice farmland, country road passing through Laurelville---a good stop for apples, cider, honey, and cider slushes---and Circleville, which contains an unexpectedly delightful Cajun restaurant, J.R. Hooks, open for both lunch and dinner. Here at Circleville, 23 North will find you at 270 in Columbus in a short time. Using this route, 56 to 23, the travel time from Ash Cave to Columbus is just over an hour.
Copyright by Kirk Hathaway, March 1997
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