We participated in the 49th Annual Hocking Hills Winter Hike yesterday. This was our fifth time participating in this winter hike that runs from Old Man's Cave to Rose Lake, Cedar Falls, and ends at Ash Cave for a total distance of 6 miles. A bus returns participants to the starting point.
The weather for this hike was grey skies with snow flurries in the morning. Temperatures for nearby Logan, OH were as follows:
7 AM
10 AM
1 PM
11° F (-12° C)
15° F (-9° C)
19° Read more ➜ 49th Annual Hocking Hills Winter Hike, January 2014
We participated in the 49th Annual Hocking Hills Winter Hike yesterday. This was our fifth time participating in this winter hike that runs from Old Man's Cave to Rose Lake, Cedar Falls, and ends at Ash Cave for a total distance of 6 miles. A bus returns participants to the starting point.
The weather for this hike was grey skies with snow flurries in the morning. Temperatures for nearby Logan, OH were as follows:
7 AM
10 AM
1 PM
11° F (-12° C)
15° F (-9° C)
19° Read more ➜ 
We visited the Hocking Hills State Park in July to view a couple of the park's waterfalls: Broken Rock Falls and the Lower Falls. We scheduled our hike on a sunny day following a rainy spell, so we hoped that lots of water would be flowing over the falls.
To get to these falls we passed by Old Man's Cave, one of the park's most famous attractions. The trail to all of these attractions passes through a scenic gorge.
Below are some of the sights that we took in on the way to Old 
It was cool and sunny on Saturday morning so we decided to take a look at fall foliage at Rock Stalls. Rock Stalls is a privately owned nature sanctuary run by Camp Akita. It is open to the public, and we last visited the site in February. It is a box canyon crisscrossed by small streams. There are also several, seasonal waterfalls along the rim.
We arrived early Saturday morning at the parking area which was completely empty. The descent to the floor of the canyon was colorful 
Rock Stalls Natural Sanctuary is a private preserve that is owned and operated by Camp Akita, but the management of Camp Akita also allows access to the general public. So this past Sunday Bob and I decided to stop by and see what we had been missing.
I've published a GPS trace of our hike at the end of this article. From the parking lot at the western end, you go a short ways until the trail branches. You can take either branch because this portion of the trail is a loop. We decided 
We participated in the 48th Annual Hocking Hills Winter Hike today. This was our fourth time doing this winter hike which runs from Old Man's Cave to Cedar Falls and on to Ash Cave, a distance of approximately 6 miles.
By the end of the hike, temperatures reached the mid-40's (7° C) with sunny, blue skies. The only thing missing from this year's winter hike was winter! A few small patches of snow and a few small icicles were the only real signs of winter. However, there was plenty 
We returned to Conkle's Hollow in early January. Snow blanketed the hollow while icicles edged the cliff rim. When the slightest breeze stirred the fir boughs, snow wafted down catching the light as it fell.
We stuck to the lower "Gorge Trail" which was covered with snow and ice; it might have been slippery, but we were wearing YakTrax over our shoes, so we didn't slip at all (if you are unfamiliar with this winter gear, we discuss it here). A trickle of water was flowing at the 
We'd visited every (non-permit) park and preserve in Hocking county except one - Kessler Swamp. This weekend on the way home from a hike at Conkles Hollow, we stopped there. The parking lot for the preserve in a pull-off off of Hideaway Hills Road. A very short path leads you to an observation platform overlooking the swamp.
The preserve is a 20-acre site consisting mostly of the swamp which is fed by Durbin Run, a tributary of Rush Creek. When we visited we noted mostly waterfowl 
Last weekend's sunny, warm weather encouraged us to go for a hike around the Rim Trail at Conkle's Hollow. I just wanted to share a few photos, so you could see how beautiful this area is.
Panoramic exploration
This is such a beautiful trail. I took several panoramic photos, but there's always the question as to how to present such long, skinny photos at a blog. So I'm trying something new. I made a one-minute video were I am basically just panning 
Four years ago we participated in our first winter hike - 6 miles from Old Man's Cave to Ash Cave with a small group of approximately 5,500 people. There was snow and ice on the ground and the temperature was just below freezing. It was awesome! We've been hooked on winter hiking ever since.
Why go on a winter hike? Isn't it cold and nasty? What about slipping on the snow and ice? Before I started winter hiking, I had all of those concerns. In fact, I thought the idea sounded a little 
The parks and preserves in the Hocking Hills area are great destinations for the outdoor enthusiast. We've hiked them all - Hocking State Park, Conkle's Hollow, Rock Bridge, Wahkeena, Boch Hollow. Wait ... Boch Hollow?
Boch Hollow is a 570 acre preserve located north of Logan, Ohio. Like Rhododendron Cove and Christmas Rocks, Boch Hollow used to be a permit only preserve, but it is now open to the public. We've provided directions to the preserve at the end of this article.
Boch