After I walked in Hocking Hills in September, I spent a half day walking around the Richfield Heritage Preserve in Richfield, Ohio. The Richfield Heritage Preserve is 336 acres of forests, lakes, creeks, and trails. You can find out more about it on the Friends of Richfield Heritage Preserve Website.
The Richfield Heritage Preserve was also once two Girl Scout camps next to each other, Camp Juliet Crowell and Camp Hilaka. I spent many summers in the early eighties at Girl Scout camp. There were cabins and tent sites. I remember going to Horse Camp for a week and realizing that I did not like horses. There was boating on the lake, and there was a swimming pool too. I remember campfires and mosquitoes and cleaning latrines. Mostly, I remember walking from place to place. I might even say that my love of walking started at Girl Scout camp.
The Girl Scouts sold the camp in the twenty teens, and the property eventually became the Richfield Heritage Preserve. It is open to the public between dawn and dusk with hiking trails, buildings, and latrines. There are even trail maps, but the trails are a series of loops and easy to follow.
Wanting to tramp around the old camp grounds, I dragged my brother with me to Richfield. After we pulled into the parking lot, I immediately spotted the old dining hall which was getting decorated for a wedding reception. Looking at the wood beams on the ceiling and the old stone fireplace, I knew where I was. We used to eat crappy food and sing camp songs there.
We walked to the lake where the old boat house still was. There were folks kayaking out on the lake, so the lake was still in fine form. We walked around the lake and found one of the old cabins. There was a kitchen in the front and a huge open room where we slept on mattresses on the floor. There was a latrine behind the cabin. When we were winter camping in the cabin, that latrine was brutal.
Amity House
We walked past the old Amity house where several bridesmaids were getting hair and makeup done for the wedding. Then, we walked down the main trail to the other lake. There were several shelters next to the trail. I remember some of them had platform tents next to them. Then, we got to the old mill which is being refurbished.
I think what surprised me most about the Preserve is how close together everything is. I remember the walks between places being so long. Now, it was only a few minutes. Did the camp shrink or did my range get bigger?
I remember looking through those trees and thinking about possibilities and making up stories of adventures. Now that I’ve had a few adventures, I delight that the trees are still there, and I can still walk among them.
I rented a cabin through Airbnb and bought some groceries in Columbus, Ohio before driving country roads to the Hocking Hills area. I was not roughing it. The cabin had air conditioning and a full kitchen. However, there was no wifi and the cell signal was spotty.
Day One: Visitors Center, Upper Falls, Whispering Cave
I arrived at the Visitors Center at 9am and parked in an empty parking lot with a lot of spots. Was Hocking Hills that popular? Really?
I found the trail entrance with signage telling me which direction to go and started walking at the Upper Falls. I crossed on stone bridge on all the posters and followed the trail down some stairs. It was easy walking and accessible. I liked that it was walking for everyone.
A promising start. . .Then down some stairs. . .
I stopped under the stone bridge and looked at stone walls of the gorge around me. The glaciers had been busy. There was a little pond of gross looking water and sign for a selfie spot. My attempts at selfie-ing were futile.
I continued walking in the bottom of the gorge. It was a well-defined trail with nice bridges crossing the creek. Folks were walking and looking. Every turn and bend gave us another view of rocks along the side of the gorges.
I walked past the Devil’s Bathtub which was simply a deep hole filled with water and continued on the path. Some little kids were playing in a cave with their parents. One little kid walked toward me.
Hi, I’m Dawson. Little boy said.
Enjoying the creek, Dawson? I asked. The little boy paused.
How do you know my name? He asked.
You just told her your name. The Dad inserted.
I climbed some more stone steps and came upon four guys sweeping dirt off the stone path. It was a very humid morning, and they were already sweating. Still, this was some impressive trail maintenance. We said our hellos, and I walked on.
I continued on the Grandma Gatewood trail. The walking became a little more involved. There were steps up and down and tree roots. Grandma Gatewood was the first woman to thru-walk solo on the Appalachian Trail. She did this at the age of sixty-seven. It’s never too late to go for a nice walk.
Drawing of Grandma Gatewood at the Hocking Hills Visitors Center
The Grandma Gatewood trail met up with the Whispering Cave trail, and my trail markers went from blue to purple. I came to a suspension bridge which was beautifully built and crossed over a small creek that was jumpable. I was there during the dry time, so maybe the creek was usually wider. Still, the bridge was impressive and fun to cross. It swayed and bounced.
A fun bouncy bridge over a tiny creek
I had a bit of uphill then walked along a ridge. The trail was narrow and not as easy as the Upper Falls area. I could hear water falling and came to a huge cave. There were wooden steps leading down into it, and the whispering cave sat behind falling water which landed in a creek below. I walked into the whispering cave. There was a wooden rail and it was lovely and cool. Okay, it was worth the hype. It was beautiful and peaceful.
Approaching the Whispering CaveIn the Whispering Cave. . .
As I was walking back to the main trail, I met a couple from Texas. They were RVing across America. I took a photo of them next to some rocks, and they took a photo of me on the trail. Good times.
Back at the Visitor’s Center, there were a lot of people in the gift shop, and I asked the gift shop lady if it was usually so busy. She said there was no off season at Hocking Hills. It dies down between Thanksgiving and Christmas, then winter hiking starts up in January. The best time to visit Hocking Hills is in the spring when there is a lot of water flowing. In September, it’s dry even though there’s some water in the creek.
Day Two: Ash Cave, Rock House, Rim Trail at Conkles Hollow, Old Man Cave
On Day Two, I had a plan. I was going to drive to different trail heads for a series of short day hikes.
I started at the Ash Cave. There was an extremely accessible trail to a huge cave. Apparently, there used to be ash on the floor of it. I tried to take a picture to show the scale of it.
Extremely accessible trail to the Ash Cave
You can take a flight of wooden stairs to the ground above the ash cave. If you want to exit, you go right at the top of the stairs. I went left and ended up on the other end of the Grandma Gatewood trail. I walked through a pine forest then I realized I was on my way back to the visitors center several miles away, so I went back and took the Ash Cave downhill.
After the Ash Cave, I drove to the Rock House. Like the Ash Cave, it’s a loop trail and you can only go in one direction. You end up walking against this amazing rock face that’s several stories high. There are stairways carved into the rock. It was a pleasant hour long walk. After I got back to the parking lot, I had lunch at a picnic table.
Okay, I’ll stay on the trail.Approaching the Rock House
Next, I walked the Rim Trail at Conkles Hollow, a State Nature Preserve, not a State Park. The Rim Trail is two and a half miles and starts with a lot of stairs, then you walk around the rim of a canyon and down a flight of stairs to finish. There were some beautiful views and lots of trees.
On the rim of the 2 1/2 mile rim trail looking at the tops of trees
I drove back toward the Visitors Center for a nice bathroom and an ice cream. Sugared up, I took the trail to the Old Man’s Cave that I hadn’t seen the day before. It was a huge cave but not a true Man Cave. There were no couches or flat screen TVs.
It was an extremely pleasant two days of day hiking in Hocking Hills, and I highly recommend it. The weather in late September was warm and humid, but I carried water. The walks are not extreme. They are pleasant and mostly under trees.
For accommodation, I had a cabin which I found on Airbnb. I also recommend googling Cabins Hocking Hills. There are a lot of options. There are not a lot of restaurants, so I bought groceries in Columbus, Ohio, and I had a full kitchen at the cabin.
The Visitors Center at Hocking Hills is open every day 10-4. They have free trail maps, restrooms, comfortable chairs, and snacks for sale. The folks who work there are very friendly.
