Hocking Hills is a gorgeous area of Ohio with awesome hiking options and a quaint town to explore. It is a perfect weekend escape to relax in the forest and get away from the hustle and bustle of your daily life.
The park is nestled in the southeast corner of Ohio, near the West Virginia border. It is 6 hours from Charlotte, North Carolina, my home base. It is also just one hour southeast of Columbus, so if you are looking for a longer adventure you could visit the city as well. Check out my Columbus recommendations here!
I would definitely recommend renting a cabin for your time in Hocking Hills. There is nothing better than a day of hiking followed by a nice relaxing campfire! We stayed at an Airbnb in the forest and thoroughly enjoyed it. Get $35 off your first Airbnb stay using my link here!
Hocking Hills State Park
Hiking Hocking Hills
Hocking Hills State Park offers a lot of different hiking options depending on what you want to see and how far you want to go. We did a 7.5 mile loop trail to Old Man Cave, Whispering Cave, Cedar Falls, and Rose Lake that I would definitely recommend.
When we visited it was quite crowded at Old Man Cave and Cedar Falls because those are two areas that you can park near and just do a short hike to see. Outside of those popular spots we saw very few people along the trail which was really nice.
There are a few waterfalls in the park but expect them to be quite dry if you are visiting in the summer months. It looks like in the spring after the snow melts they are flowing at their full potential.
The first half of the hike varied in difficulty. It was mostly flat but there were areas that were quite rocky making it a little harder to traverse. After Cedar Falls, which is essentially the halfway point, there is a quick suspension bridge and then the ridge trail that leads you back to the parking lot is flat and easy along top of the cliff faces.
We really enjoyed the change of scenery throughout the hike. There were waterfalls, caves, rivers, cliffs, gorges, boulders, forests, and lakes all in the 7.5 miles we hiked.
Rose Lake
Post-Hike Recommendations
The local brewery has a wide variety of beers on tap for you to enjoy in their beer garden or tap room. We enjoyed their light and refreshing beers after hiking in the sun all morning. The Fruity Tooty Gose was my personal favorite!
Brewery 33 doesn’t have any food besides some pretzels and snacks, but you can get food delivered from local restaurants. They are dog and kid friendly.
Wine Slushie at Hocking Hills Winery
The local winery has a fantastic outdoor space surrounded by nature that was super nice to relax on.
Their wines were all tasty and you can sample 8 of them for just $10. I would also highly recommend the wine slushie option, especially if you’re visiting during the heat of summer!
The winery also has charcuterie boards to help you refuel after your hike or you can get a meal delivered from a local restaurant. The winery is dog and kid friendly.
Depending on where you are staying, Jackie O’s is around 30-45 minutes from the park and absolutely worth visiting. They are one of the top breweries in the country and definitely the best in Ohio. Their Stouts, Porters, and Wild Ales in particular are incredible and I would highly recommend checking them out!
They have a brewpub and a taproom in Athens, Ohio. Depending on where you are visiting Hocking Hills from, you potentially might drive through Athens given that it is one of the major cities nearby, so definitely check it out!
Brewery 33