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canyonwalkerOhio Waterfalls Travelog #8
Hocking Hills State Park · Fri, 17 Apr 2026. 2:30pm
Our next hike today at Hocking Hills State Park will be Whispering Cave, a spot where there's another waterfall. But first, we need some lunch.
We noted while we were down in the canyon on our previous hike that instead of hiking around to Whispering Cave and back all on one long hike, extending the round-trip trek to 4.5 miles, we could save a mile or two by cutting short the canyon hike after Broken Rock Falls and driving to another trailhead for Whispering Cave. Plus, we saw on the map, the trailhead for Whispering Cave is where the park has a lodge. We figured that meant we could buy food there.
The park lodge turns out to be a pretty nice affair. It always strikes me as odd when I see a nice, modern park lodge like this. As a function of the places I've lived, "park lodge" engenders expectations of some ramshackle historic structure that was built in 1926 and lacks modern conveniences. Y'know, the kind of place that's advertised with, "Some rooms come with private baths!" Instead this is the kind that has wall-to-wall carpeting, air conditioning (that works), and plenty of electric sockets. And it also has a snack stand in the lobby.
Little of the food was to my liking; it was mostly carbs and sugar. But I was happy to sit down and eat a protein bar from my pack and finish off a soda from this morning while Hawk ate pretzels and hummus. Then we returned to the car to get our packs then back around the hotel to begin the trail.
I lamented again how I didn't know the park lodge was this nice. Had I known, I seriously would have considered staying here instead of at a Holiday Inn Express 30 miles away. Yes, it would've been more money, but without having to trade off 1920s-vintage standards the convenience can't be beat.
Update: coming back through the hotel on the way back from the hike I spotted they have a hot tub. None of the other hotels I looked at has a hot tub! I figured it was some Ohio anti-hot tub policy or something. Now I really wish I'd known about this place when I was booking.
Hocking Hills State Park · Fri, 17 Apr 2026. 2:30pm
Our next hike today at Hocking Hills State Park will be Whispering Cave, a spot where there's another waterfall. But first, we need some lunch.
We noted while we were down in the canyon on our previous hike that instead of hiking around to Whispering Cave and back all on one long hike, extending the round-trip trek to 4.5 miles, we could save a mile or two by cutting short the canyon hike after Broken Rock Falls and driving to another trailhead for Whispering Cave. Plus, we saw on the map, the trailhead for Whispering Cave is where the park has a lodge. We figured that meant we could buy food there.
The park lodge turns out to be a pretty nice affair. It always strikes me as odd when I see a nice, modern park lodge like this. As a function of the places I've lived, "park lodge" engenders expectations of some ramshackle historic structure that was built in 1926 and lacks modern conveniences. Y'know, the kind of place that's advertised with, "Some rooms come with private baths!" Instead this is the kind that has wall-to-wall carpeting, air conditioning (that works), and plenty of electric sockets. And it also has a snack stand in the lobby.
Little of the food was to my liking; it was mostly carbs and sugar. But I was happy to sit down and eat a protein bar from my pack and finish off a soda from this morning while Hawk ate pretzels and hummus. Then we returned to the car to get our packs then back around the hotel to begin the trail.
I lamented again how I didn't know the park lodge was this nice. Had I known, I seriously would have considered staying here instead of at a Holiday Inn Express 30 miles away. Yes, it would've been more money, but without having to trade off 1920s-vintage standards the convenience can't be beat.
Update: coming back through the hotel on the way back from the hike I spotted they have a hot tub. None of the other hotels I looked at has a hot tub! I figured it was some Ohio anti-hot tub policy or something. Now I really wish I'd known about this place when I was booking.
