Hiking Ash Cave
Apr. 20th, 2026 02:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerOhio Waterfalls Travelog #12
Hocking Hills State Park · Sat, 18 Apr 2026. 1pm
After hiking Cedar Creek Falls first thing today ("first" thing 🤣) we hopped back in the car and backtracked a few miles to the trailhead for Ash Cave. Cedar was highest on our combined priority list so we hiked it first in our race against the rains coming later today. Ash Cave is next highest so we're doing it now.
The trail to Ash Cave is easy, less than 1/2 mile I think, and very flat and paved the whole way. A person could do it with a an assistive device. Well, right up to the viewpoint in the cave, anyway. The trail goes on from there in the dirt/sand. But here's the view from more or less the end of the sidewalk:
I hopped off the paved part of the trail and followed it through the sand underneath the cover of the cave.
The waterfall here is quite a sight. I photographed it from a number of different angles, including up and along the trail that ascends around the back of the cave. I think the best vantage was here, at the bottom.
The trail around the back of the cave climbs all the way to the rim, where one of those Ohio one-way trails connects back to the parking lot. The gorge trail is bidirectional, though, and Hawk and I wanted to save our legs for more hikes today, so we retraced our steps back out on the flat, paved trail.
Speaking of more hikes today, so far the weather's holding out. We've finished two hikes before it starts raining. We're headed to a third one now... will we finish number three before we get poured on?
Hocking Hills State Park · Sat, 18 Apr 2026. 1pm
After hiking Cedar Creek Falls first thing today ("first" thing 🤣) we hopped back in the car and backtracked a few miles to the trailhead for Ash Cave. Cedar was highest on our combined priority list so we hiked it first in our race against the rains coming later today. Ash Cave is next highest so we're doing it now.
The trail to Ash Cave is easy, less than 1/2 mile I think, and very flat and paved the whole way. A person could do it with a an assistive device. Well, right up to the viewpoint in the cave, anyway. The trail goes on from there in the dirt/sand. But here's the view from more or less the end of the sidewalk:
I hopped off the paved part of the trail and followed it through the sand underneath the cover of the cave.
The waterfall here is quite a sight. I photographed it from a number of different angles, including up and along the trail that ascends around the back of the cave. I think the best vantage was here, at the bottom.
The trail around the back of the cave climbs all the way to the rim, where one of those Ohio one-way trails connects back to the parking lot. The gorge trail is bidirectional, though, and Hawk and I wanted to save our legs for more hikes today, so we retraced our steps back out on the flat, paved trail.
Speaking of more hikes today, so far the weather's holding out. We've finished two hikes before it starts raining. We're headed to a third one now... will we finish number three before we get poured on?
