Hiking Whispering Cave
Apr. 19th, 2026 01:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerOhio Waterfalls Travelog #9
Hocking Hills State Park · Fri, 17 Apr 2026. 3:30pm
After assuaging our hunger with a light lunch at the park lodge we set off down the trail to Whispering Cave. And it was down. The first leg of the trail from the lodge involves over 125 stair steps down to the lip of the canyon. Then dozens more steps down onto the benchland.
Here, on the benchland, we're probably 100' above the creek at the bottom of the canyon below. I'm glad we didn't stretch our hike in the gorge to come out here in one go. Though the cost for avoiding that is returning up those 200-ish steps to the lodge on the way out.
In the photo above you see more of the same Black Hand sandstone formation that comprises this gorge. The little ridges and pock marks in the stone come from places where there was a harder mineral that resisted erosion slightly more, forming the little ridges,while softer material underneath eroded away, forming the divots.
There are also a lot of caves in the rock. Here in Ohio "cave" is used liberally. It describes a tightly enclosed area that you could imagine a beast hiding in; and it also describes basically any area where the rock overhangs.
Which one is Whispering Cave? It's the latter, though on a grand scale.
And there's a waterfall pouring over the lip of the cave. It's a bit hard to spot in the photo above because the flow is just a trickle— or about equal to a bathroom shower. Look for the wet area along the rim. Or check this short video I recorded:
After this we retraced our steps to the park lodge. Yes, than meant a lot of literal steps, as in stair steps, at the end. Hawk is feeling beat, and I'm feeling... beat but like maybe I want to squeeze in one more hike, one easy hike, on this beautiful day. We've agreed we'll drive to the next trailhead and decide there.
Hocking Hills State Park · Fri, 17 Apr 2026. 3:30pm
After assuaging our hunger with a light lunch at the park lodge we set off down the trail to Whispering Cave. And it was down. The first leg of the trail from the lodge involves over 125 stair steps down to the lip of the canyon. Then dozens more steps down onto the benchland.
Here, on the benchland, we're probably 100' above the creek at the bottom of the canyon below. I'm glad we didn't stretch our hike in the gorge to come out here in one go. Though the cost for avoiding that is returning up those 200-ish steps to the lodge on the way out.
In the photo above you see more of the same Black Hand sandstone formation that comprises this gorge. The little ridges and pock marks in the stone come from places where there was a harder mineral that resisted erosion slightly more, forming the little ridges,while softer material underneath eroded away, forming the divots.
There are also a lot of caves in the rock. Here in Ohio "cave" is used liberally. It describes a tightly enclosed area that you could imagine a beast hiding in; and it also describes basically any area where the rock overhangs.
Which one is Whispering Cave? It's the latter, though on a grand scale.
And there's a waterfall pouring over the lip of the cave. It's a bit hard to spot in the photo above because the flow is just a trickle— or about equal to a bathroom shower. Look for the wet area along the rim. Or check this short video I recorded:
After this we retraced our steps to the park lodge. Yes, than meant a lot of literal steps, as in stair steps, at the end. Hawk is feeling beat, and I'm feeling... beat but like maybe I want to squeeze in one more hike, one easy hike, on this beautiful day. We've agreed we'll drive to the next trailhead and decide there.
