Hocking Hills

Saturday, we left very early to start a two week road trip with Alex.  We drove north through West Virginia and into Ohio and stopped at the Cedar Falls trailhead in Hocking Hills State Park.  Arriving around 930, it was pretty crowded but we found a parking spot.  We started on the one-way Cedar Falls trail that descended down to Queer Creek with some cool cliffs and caves along the creek.

It's definitely not what you'd expect in Ohio.  Cedar Falls, the biggest waterfall in the Hocking Hills area, was just a short ways upstream.

With the storms the night before, it was flowing very well for summer.

I climbed around to get shots from different angles.

But it was already getting crowded so we took off.  From here, we got on Gorge Overlook Trail and headed above Cedar Falls.  Some giant ironweed was flowering along the trail.

We followed along the north rim of the Queer Creek gorge and around Rose Lake.

There were a few viewpoints from the trail looking into the gorge below but too overgrown for much of a view.

After about 2.5 miles, we came to the end of the trail at the Old Man's Cave area.  First we headed down to Upper Falls.

The water wasn't too high, but it was scenic with the bridge above and colorful cliffs all around.

From here, we headed down the beautiful gorge along the Grandma Gatewood Trail.

It was really cloudy down in here and had a spooky feel.  The sandstone walls of the gorge were gorgeous.

Before reaching Old Man's Cave, we passed the Devil's Bathtub, a nice pothole in the creek.

The park had constructed some beautiful bridges and steps into the gorge.  Passing Old Man's Cave, we continue down to Lower Falls.  This one was pretty high but the water level was very low.

Before heading back, we passed through Old Man's Cave.

It was pretty crowded but a cool cave and the one way trails minimized contact.

From here, we followed the Grandma Gatewood Trail heading back towards Cedar Falls.  We passed by several more beautiful cliff areas below the Rim Trail we had hiked earlier.

Whispering Falls plunged down from the rim though there wasn't much water.

I imagine in winter this would be really gorgeous.  There was another little tributary waterfall but it too was almost completely dry.

When we were almost back, we heard what sounded like a waterfall on the other side.  There were some rocks in the creek, so we rock-hopped across and followed the little drainage up to the base of pretty nice waterfall.

I don't think it's named so we called it Secret Falls.

After a little break, we headed back to the main trail along Queer Creek.

It was just a short ways further back to Cedar Falls and then to the parking lot.

Continuing north, we stopped in Columbus to visit Hayden Falls.  The small parking lot was almost full, but we managed to get a spot.  A short boardwalk led to the waterfall, but unfortunately there was no water flowing.

The cliff that it flows down was rather scenic and there was a pool of turquoise water at the base.

We got some pictures and headed on.

We were getting hungry at this point and stopped for dinner in Dublin at the Dublin Village Tavern.  They had a nice outdoor seating to dine with Alex and good Irish food and beer.  We talked to another couple dining here.  The woman was Canadian and was heading back to British Columbia.  With a Canadian passport, she could get in but would have to quarantine for 14 days.  After dinner, we continued driving north and stopped in Perrysburg at the Candlewood Inn.  After a very long day, we went to bed early.