Two Days in Ohio

What we did:

With our See America Tent, we camped in a private, and sorry to say, overcrowded campsite. It was an experience we won't repeat any time soon. But we met our German neighbors on the left and Erie, PA neighbors on the right and Roux was a perfect gentleman. 

We started our sightseeing early by hiking the 5 out and back miles into Ash Cave where we met up with a throng of other tourists who had parked in the nearby lot and walked the 1/4th mile in. Then David took off with Roux to see Old Man's Cave and I ran the 12 miles back to the Visitors Center, seeing the Swinging Bridge and Cedar Falls on the way, but choosing to by-pass the conga lines at Old Man's Cave.

  

Later that day we left the state park and found twisty-turny West Virginia type roads. We came upon a true split rail fence encompassing a vast field and small farms that once flourished but now were still and silent, some vacant.

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We stopped at a tiny settlement where a few houses stood and an old cemetery lay. Without words we carefully made our way from grave site to grave site, silently marveling at the folks who settled here in the 1700's hoping to make a life and a future for the generations who would follow. 

One of the narrow roads took us into Logan where we found the Roux-friendly Hocking Hills Moonshine Distillery. These boys are serious about their shine and produce a high quality product. We had amazing food on the patio served by a perfectly friendly waitress and tasted a selection of some of their shine. One of which we brought home in a growler.  

The following day the campsite was nearly empty by the time we finished packing up the See America tent. We drove down a Blue Highway road traveling through small towns and places that were once small towns. There wasn't a lot of traffic to be had. It was Sunday morning and quiet in Centerville as we drove down main street. We sat on the patio of the Roux-friendly Scioto Valley Coffee Shop where David had the perfect chocolate-on-chocolate muffin, and I a small-batch-cinnamon-roll with exceptionally well made Miels.

What we won't and will do again:

Besides the interesting historical information, we learned visiting a place like this on high-volume weekends is not the thing to do. We should have known, but we didn't do our homework on that point. If we were to visit Hocking Hills SP again, we'd be traveling there at a more subdued time like in late fall or very early spring. And we'd certainly visit Hocking Hills Moonshine Distillery (unless it happens to be a Sunday, in which case it'd be closed).

We were reinforced with the notion that Ohio is an amazing place - not at first blush or by driving diagonally through the state, down the expressways en route to West Virginia by any means - but like most things, when you scratch the surface and dig a little deeper, treasures can be found.

One more thing...we did not exhaust the sights at Hocking Hills SP by any means. We saw a small offering of what is there before heading out into the countryside.

Some Hocking Hill History:

Hocking Hills State Park is located near the western edge of the Allegheny Plateau in  Southeastern Ohio about 45 miles south of Columbus in a county called Wayne. It has become a region tourists flood to with high anticipation every year. They come to walk all, or some, of the 25 miles of well maintained pathways that connect high interest, well preserved gorges, waterfalls and notable geological sites. Many camp in large, sometimes highly populated, campsites or stay in desirable resorts that take the form of cottages, cabins, inns and lodges. Eateries of all shapes and sizes, vineyards, distilleries and microbreweries are sprinkled about and easy to come by. The newly built Visitors Center in the state park provides historical information on this geological phenomena. And in case you need a sticker for your water bottle or another piece of memorabilia, the small gift shop is conveniently located there as well. It's a dog-friendly place, so Roux's kind are welcomed as long as they're tethered.

From touring the Visitors Center I learned a few things about this area's history. The predominant rock in the area is called Black Hand Sandstone named after a large black handprint petroglyph carved into a stone wall and left by early Native American inhabitants near this area. Containing quartz, the Black Hand Sandstone is a course kind and often presents crossover in its layering. The sandstone formations are massive and date back well over 300 million years.Like nearly half of the United States, the region had been submerged under oceanic waters, part of the catalyst for the deposit of sand and gravel which eventually formed this sandstone. With the ocean recession and millions of years of erosion, the formation of the iconic gorges and and rock formations found in the state park took place. The climate is humid and moist which allows for species of flora and fauna not found in other Ohio regions to thrive, species like the Canadian Yew and the Hemlock. I love both of these, they bring back memories of my life in Alaska, so it felt familiar being surrounded by them.

Settlement in the area has a long history, some evidence dating back 7,000 years. The more recent residents of the 1600-1700's were the Wyandot, Shawnee and Delaware Native American tribes. They came for the abundant natural resources and were soon followed and displaced by pioneering peoples from the eastern US.

In 1924, the state of Ohio purchased the first installment of land (146 acres) to establish Hocking Hills State Park.