500 words on Hocking Hills State Park

State parklands created an unexpected firestorm in California this year – and not in the form of another wildfire – when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger threatened to close the parks and deny us access to our greatest natural resources. Many saw this move as pointless exercise in a contentious budget debate and in the end the governor never pulled the trigger. With our parks safe for now, Californians don’t have to head out of state to enjoy the great outdoors, but with a reported $21 billion deficit looming for next year we might want to start exploring our options. I’m looking at you, Ohio.

The state of Ohio has 74 parks running from the shores of Lake Erie to the Appalachian Plateau. With 174,000 acres of park land, Ohio’s park system is dwarfed by the 278 parks and 1.5 million acres of California’s but 55 million Ohioans and other Americans will visit their parks this year. In the middle of the state, we’ll visit a 2,400 acre park called Hocking Hills.

Hocking Hills is a park in the middle of the state forest with mind-blowing rock formations, a dense canopy of trees towering over streams, waterfalls, and rising from the impressive gorges of the region. Hocking Hills State Park is a popular destination in the more remote part of the state; Hocking County only has 24,000 residents in coal country. Though Hocking Hills State Park isn’t just a regional playground, but a time capsule of the area’s rich history and dynamic geology.

In Hocking Hills State Park you can venture through one of nine hiking trails, or stop and picnic alongside the geological structures that define the park. Just on the outside of the park on state forest land, you can scale similar rock features or take a swim in the streams or public pool within the park. If you don’t want to stay indoors during the cold, difficult winter months, you can even go ice-fishing in the park.

Features naturally carved into the Blackhand sandstone of Hocking Hills make the six different areas of the park bold and unique. Visitors to the Hocking Hills can visit the Devil’s Bathtub, a pool of water that looks like it was built for something supernatural, or hide in the cool shade of the massive Ash Cave. The deep gorges carved into hill and cliff sides remind us of Hocking County’s ancient heritage and give home to plant life and trees, transporting us through the area’s 10,000 year history.

While we can find evidence of the ancient Adena culture in the region as far back as 7,000 years ago, Hocking County has been a hotspot of both indigenous people and white settlers for the past few hundred years. Since the last 19th century, folks have seen the Hocking Hills as a prime recreational area. In 1924, the first state park designation was made with a 124-acre piece of land and the park continued to expand and attract contemporary Ohioans and visitors from all over the region.


Visitors explore the Ash Cave in Hocking Hills State Park.