HOCKING HILLS: News

WELCOME TO HOCKING HILLS

Posted by hockinghillsnews, 16 Jun : 10:39

HOCKING HILLS
where waterfalls, remarkable hiking trails and amazing wildlife await.
Whether it's antiques, fine art, breathtaking scenery,
a hike to Old Man's Cave or a getaway in a woodland cabin

A Landscape That the Glaciers Overlooked

FLAT. During the last ice age, about three-quarters of Ohio was steamrollered to pancake perfection by glaciers. Ohio takes in nearly 45,000 square miles, yet its highest point is only about 1,000 feet above its lowest. So, yes, flat.

But tucked into Ohio’s southeast corner, near where it touches West Virginia and Kentucky, lies a protected pocket the glaciers never bullied, a densely wooded but thinly populated region of rugged slopes and cool hollows, of spring-fed creeks and cascading waterfalls, known as the Hocking Hills. For years, city dwellers from Columbus, only an hour away, have sought refuge there in retreats hidden among oak, cherry, walnut and hickory forests.

The '''Hocking Hills''' is a deeply-dissected area of the Allegheny Plateau in Ohio, primarily in Hocking County, Ohio|Hocking County, that features cliffs, gorges, rock shelters, and waterfalls. The relatively extreme topography in this area is due to the Blackhand Sandstone (so named because of Native American graphics on the formation near Newark, Ohio), a particular formation that is thick, hard and weather-resistant, and so forms high cliffs and narrow, deep gorges.

Most of the more scenic areas of the region are under state ownership, including:
*Hocking Hills State Park (7 unconnected areas: Old Man's Cave, Rock House, Ash Cave,Cedar Falls , Cantwell Cliffs , Conkles Hollow, and Lake Logan)
*Hocking State Forest
*Conkle's Hollow State Nature Preserve
*Kessler Swamp State Nature Preserve
*Lake Logan State Park
*Rockbridge State Nature Preserve
*Rock House State Park

The geological series that forms the Hocking Hills extends south and west, gradually diminishing but still forming impressive bluffs and gorges in:
*Tar Hollow State Park
*Tar Hollow State Forest
*Lake Katharine State Nature Preserve

The Buckeye Trail, along with the North Country Trail and the American Discovery Trail, passes through the Hocking Hills region.

Also nearby are:
*Clear Creek Metro Park, part of the Metro Parks (Columbus, Ohio)|Columbus and Franklin County Metropolitan Park District
*Lake Logan State Park
*Lake Hope State Park
*Zaleski State Forest
*Camp Wyandot

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