Date: 07/05/2019 – Distance: 6.2 mi – Elapsed Time: 5 hr – Ascent: 993 ft – Descent: 995 ft – Difficulty: Medium
A friend and I hiked the Buckeye Trail between the Old Man’s Cave and Cedar Falls. This trail is also known as the Grandma Gatewood Memorial Trail. It is located south of Logan, Ohio in Hocking Hills State Park. The section of the Buckeye Trail is part of a larger trail system that encircles the state. The hike is three miles between destinations and follows along Old Mans Creek and Queer Creek. This park attracts millions of people every year, and I would guess most come to see Old Man’s Cave.
After parking in the lot off of SR 664 at the head of Old Man’s Cave, you begin by descending into the gorge quickly, right into the mouth of Old Man’s Cave. It’s pretty awesome. It was inhabited by the Adena Native Americans some 7000 years ago. It has since been inhabited in the last few hundred years by the Wyandot, Delaware, and Shawnee tribes as well. It was carved by glacial runoff from ice dams from the edge of the ice from the last ice age. Now there’s a small stream which flows through the gorge allowing us today to hike along it’s path and enjoy the awe of this beautiful place.
The gorge is carved in Black Hand Sandstone which sits on top of bedrock which was laid down when much of Ohio was a shallow sea over 350 million year ago. There are several falls along the way including Lower Falls, with a few others along the trail which I don’t know the names of, ending with Cedar Falls. Some of the gorge walls tower over 300 feet above as you hike. It’s cool and the climate in the gorge creates ideal conditions for hemlock pines which are everywhere. In fact it was these hemlocks which were mistaken for cedars when they named the falls.
This trail also connects, in addition to Gorge Overlook, to a few other trails which also lead to destinations like Ash Cave and Whispering Cave (via Hemlock Bridge Trail). There are some challenging sections of the path where you must climb over some large rocks and tree roots. It can also get a little muddy in some spots. There is a fairly steep climb at both ends to the parking areas and around the falls to the top where you can catch the Gorge Overlook Trail back to Old Mans Cave. I had originally intended to take the Gorge Overlook Trail back, but opted instead to retrace our original path instead. I later learned that the Gorge Overlook Trail is easier.
This trail is very well marked by blue markers on posts and trees. There are even a few signs at intersections with other trails and a couple map locations. I would rate this hike as moderate overall. This is also one of the most beautiful places in Ohio and should be on any nature lovers bucket list. I had done the park and visit to Old Man’s Cave and Cedar Falls before but never done the hike between. Next time I’ll have to catch the Gorge Overlook and perhaps some of the other falls.
Links:
http://parks.ohiodnr.gov/hockinghills
https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/us/ohio/buckeye-trail
Leave a Reply