Posted: 3/18/2014 4:34:13 PM EDT
| Hi, Planning on a trip for September in the Hocking Hills area. Is there anyone that can give me opinions on the area? I like hiking in secluded areas, falls, caves etc. I see your a open carry state so carrying while hiking is Ok I would guess. |
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Hi, Planning on a trip for September in the Hocking Hills area. Is there anyone that can give me opinions on the area? I like hiking in secluded areas, falls, caves etc. I see your a open carry state so carrying while hiking is Ok I would guess. You can open carry there, I have found most cops in ohio recognize open carry as a right within the state usually its that rookie who doesnt know his head from his ass that stops and pesters you, the hocking hills area in general is gorgeous, especially during the fall. Just be aware, there are also some heavy traffic areas there, but its not at all difficult to get away from everyone. |
| The whole "Hocking Hills" area is good to go. Some trail maps available on line. We go down and get a cabin for the weekend (even though it's only 45 minutes away) and go hiking or mountain biking or ATVing or horseback riding (we have our own horses). Usually hit up the Quails Nest for a decent dinner. |
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I've been to hocking hills many times, most of the areas to hike are parks. Fairly sure open carry in a park is a no no, in fact I believe it might be posted?
Awesome area by the way, lots to see and do. Lots of little cabins and cottages (most with hot tubs) for rent, we go a few times a year. Enjoy! |
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Humming bird Hills in the Hocking Hills area has several nice, clean cabins to choose from.
Humming Bird Hills |
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Any suggestions. Hummingbird doesn't allow firearms. Quoted:
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Some cabin owners don't allow firearms in/on their property, so just go elsewhere, there are plenty to choose from. Any suggestions. Hummingbird doesn't allow firearms. You can CCW, just no shooting, liability issues. |
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Zaleski State Forest has a back packing trail that's a total of about 24 miles. Hocking Hills will be hard to find seclusion near any point of interest. Ash cave, and Old Man cave, Cedar Falls, Cantwell Cliffs are all interesting sights, but they also see a lot of traffic. Rocky Boots used to be made in Nelsonville. They still have an outlet store in town. Sometimes you can find a deal on factory seconds there. |
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The wife and I went for a few days this past fall. It was nice, but there were people even during the week. Lot's of old gomers trying to hike to the caves and such. I don't recall any signs about guns, but that just means I wasn't really looking. It's also kind of a Honeymoon spot, so the cabins are generally nice. |
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What might I expect to see while hiking, I'm a big fan of the black bear but from what I read it's pretty rare to see one. If you're hiking around the main tourist spots, probably not much. If you actually want to hike, I suggest you get over into the Zaleski, Burr Oak, or Wildcat Hollow areas. |
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If you're hiking around the main tourist spots, probably not much. If you actually want to hike, I suggest you get over into the Zaleski, Burr Oak, or Wildcat Hollow areas. Quoted:
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What might I expect to see while hiking, I'm a big fan of the black bear but from what I read it's pretty rare to see one. If you're hiking around the main tourist spots, probably not much. If you actually want to hike, I suggest you get over into the Zaleski, Burr Oak, or Wildcat Hollow areas. Yes, I would rather be away from the crowd, thanks |
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The whole "Hocking Hills" area is good to go. Some trail maps available on line. We go down and get a cabin for the weekend (even though it's only 45 minutes away) and go hiking or mountain biking or ATVing or horseback riding (we have our own horses). Usually hit up the Quails Nest for a decent dinner. where is the Quails Nest? I see a Grouse Nest in Hocking Hills and they serve quail, Is that the one? |
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What might I expect to see while hiking, I'm a big fan of the black bear but from what I read it's pretty rare to see one. If you go to the "popular" places, don't expect to see much in the way of wildlife. You'll see incredible scenery though. I've open carried in Zaleski on overnight backpacking trips, back before we had CCW in Ohio. Since then, I pretty much only CCW. Honestly, if you open carried in the popular places, I wouldn't be surprised if people act like bitches. |
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This is the Zaleski trail:
http://backpackohio.com/zaleski.html On a weekday, you won't see many people. On weekends, you will. If you want to actually backpack, they have nice spots to camp, with water at the sites and shitters. |
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If you're hiking around the main tourist spots, probably not much. If you actually want to hike, I suggest you get over into the Zaleski, Burr Oak, or Wildcat Hollow areas. Quoted:
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What might I expect to see while hiking, I'm a big fan of the black bear but from what I read it's pretty rare to see one. If you're hiking around the main tourist spots, probably not much. If you actually want to hike, I suggest you get over into the Zaleski, Burr Oak, or Wildcat Hollow areas. This. I live about 15 minutes from Zaleski. Absolutely beautiful. If you prefer a touristy trail complete with steps and rails at some points, then old man's cave/cedar falls is for you. If you prefer to be away from all that, Lake Hope/Zaleski is much better. Conkle's Hollow has some awesome cliffs and a very nice waterfall, and is a relatively short dayhike. Leaves most likely won't change until the very end of september or beginning of october, but anytime from labor day to halfway through october, there will be people all over the place to see them. Fewer at Zaleski than pretty much everywhere else around here. |
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This. I live about 15 minutes from Zaleski. Absolutely beautiful. If you prefer a touristy trail complete with steps and rails at some points, then old man's cave/cedar falls is for you. If you prefer to be away from all that, Lake Hope/Zaleski is much better. Conkle's Hollow has some awesome cliffs and a very nice waterfall, and is a relatively short dayhike. Leaves most likely won't change until the very end of september or beginning of october, but anytime from labor day to halfway through october, there will be people all over the place to see them. Fewer at Zaleski than pretty much everywhere else around here. Quoted:
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What might I expect to see while hiking, I'm a big fan of the black bear but from what I read it's pretty rare to see one. If you're hiking around the main tourist spots, probably not much. If you actually want to hike, I suggest you get over into the Zaleski, Burr Oak, or Wildcat Hollow areas. This. I live about 15 minutes from Zaleski. Absolutely beautiful. If you prefer a touristy trail complete with steps and rails at some points, then old man's cave/cedar falls is for you. If you prefer to be away from all that, Lake Hope/Zaleski is much better. Conkle's Hollow has some awesome cliffs and a very nice waterfall, and is a relatively short dayhike. Leaves most likely won't change until the very end of september or beginning of october, but anytime from labor day to halfway through october, there will be people all over the place to see them. Fewer at Zaleski than pretty much everywhere else around here. Lake HopeZaleski sounds like the place then, I don't want to to be on a well used trail, I prefer being alone actually. thanks all for the info and if there are any other areas let me know. It's always good to here from someone local to sort out the crowded areas. |
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My wife and I stayed at Burr Oak Lodge last fall. They recently reopened under a private company, the lodge had been completely remodeled. They have an indoor pool, and a decent restaurant. The trails were deserted. We walked all day and saw one group of three people. We stayed on a Saturday and Sunday night. Sunday afternoon, we had the place to ourselves.
The year before we went to Hocking Hills, stayed at a friends cabin. You couldn't find anyplace to park if you wanted to walk trails! It was horrible! We went to Cedar Falls, took the trail that lead no where, and still could hear people the entire time. It was sad. |
Zaleski and Tar Hollow both have wild boar running around. Season is open year round. You never know when you may run across some. Check out Moonville Tunnel at Zaleski just so you can say you did. Conkle's Hollow is nice. There are zip line tours which are fun. I live about 15 min from Old Man's cave/Tar Hollow area. Tourist traffic during the summer/fall is a pain. If you see something while driving,pull over to check it out instead of driving 20 mph in a 55. There is a Flea market near Rockbridge on S.R.33. The Kettle corn is really good if the wagon is there.
Wayne National Forrest is down the road with ATV trails if you like. I'll post other stuff as I remember it. Have fun. 
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Zaleski and Tar Hollow both have wild boar running around. Season is open year round. You never know when you may run across some. Check out Moonville Tunnel at Zaleski just so you can say you did. Conkle's Hollow is nice. There are zip line tours which are fun. I live about 15 min from Old Man's cave/Tar Hollow area. Tourist traffic during the summer/fall is a pain. If you see something while driving,pull over to check it out instead of driving 20 mph in a 55. There is a Flea market near Rockbridge on S.R.33. The Kettle corn is really good if the wagon is there.
Wayne National Forrest is down the road with ATV trails if you like. I'll post other stuff as I remember it. Have fun. I am yet to meet anyone who has actually spotted wild boar in Zaleski or Tar Hollow. The ODNR map of areas where boar are supposed to be is a number of years old. 
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I am yet to meet anyone who has actually spotted wild boar in Zaleski or Tar Hollow. The ODNR map of areas where boar are supposed to be is a number of years old. Quoted:
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Zaleski and Tar Hollow both have wild boar running around. Season is open year round. You never know when you may run across some. Check out Moonville Tunnel at Zaleski just so you can say you did. Conkle's Hollow is nice. There are zip line tours which are fun. I live about 15 min from Old Man's cave/Tar Hollow area. Tourist traffic during the summer/fall is a pain. If you see something while driving,pull over to check it out instead of driving 20 mph in a 55. There is a Flea market near Rockbridge on S.R.33. The Kettle corn is really good if the wagon is there.
Wayne National Forrest is down the road with ATV trails if you like. I'll post other stuff as I remember it. Have fun. I am yet to meet anyone who has actually spotted wild boar in Zaleski or Tar Hollow. The ODNR map of areas where boar are supposed to be is a number of years old. Zaleski not personally, was with a group of coyote hunters that saw some at a distance. Tar Hollow yes. Also saw 2 young ones that a guy trapped and was raising for the freezer. His place was across the road from Tar Hollow. |
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Go there many times every year but kind of burned on my last trip. I like to walk around and not stay on the beaten path, my 4yo son and I stepped off of the trail about 6' and bam getting reamed by park ranger. Said he could charge me for destruction of property and get this child endangerment!!!! I'm not the type to get upset and I asked why he called me over. We were looking at a creek run off that we could have leisurely walked down through so it wasn't like a big bombing 250' cliff hanging over with my boy acting like a jackass.
I'm told that there was two death's back to back that month, one a guy leaning on a tree after the rainy season taking pictures over a cliff and the tree gave out and he fell way way down there  . Older guy I guess but common sense should have kicked in where he was at cause they still had caution tape around the drop.
Other was a young girl I think I remember her being 19-25 years old and she slipped down one of the big waterfalls and died at the scene. Once again Darwin Award but still upsetting to think about how beautiful it is and how easy it is to die quick. Anyways I told ranger I understood and that I grew up playing on cliffs since my entire family lives on same street with huge natural cliffs in my backyard so I didn't think anything of it when walking off the trail a little with my boy. He was ok and said he has gave out over a 100 tickets that day for the same thing and dealing with jackass's all day. Just keep that in mind and go to conkles hollow and take the cliff trail and thank us later as it is beautiful but be safe and post back your adventure. Also hummingbird hill was a nice cabin but the owner stopped to check on us like our family is a bunch of losers trashing his place and we thought that was extremely rude. |
