Since we have all day to visit the Hocking Hills we decide to make a side trip to nearby Hopewell Culture National Park.
Hopewell Culture doesn’t wow its visitors with natural beauty, but with fields of mysterious mounds built by the Hopewell Indians. They are not particularly beautiful, but the history behind it is fascinating. One of the many unsolved mysteries of the world!
They were painting the theater when we were there, but they had a lot of interesting displays in the onsite museum, as well as a short, interactive movie. Also I got my National Parks passport stamped, woohoo!
The best part of our visit was talking to a guy who was excavating an area next to one of the mounds (you can see the white canopy he was working under on the left in the picture above). Would drive me crazy in a matter of minutes, but it was very interesting to hear what they’re looking for and how.
The roads to our destination for today are absolutely crazy! Before we left I’d wanted to research scenic back country roads, but I needn’t have worried. For more than an hour we wind our way up the mountain, down the mountain, and back again. No way to speed through there because the road constantly twists and turns and you frequently can’t see around the next bend, plus some of the time we have to drive on gravel roads again. This vacation has definitely turned out to have some of the best scenery as we’ve driven from place to place!
Just after 11 o’clock we start our exploration of Hocking Hills State Park. The park is divided into 6 distinct hiking areas and since we happen upon Ash Cave first that’s where we’ll start.
Coming up on Ash Cave from the gorge trail, you can walk up a small incline at the beginning of the cave to get this interesting view. It almost looks like a scale model with a little fake tree doesn't it?! But as you can tell by the tiny people in the picture it's a real tree and it's not little either.
You can barely make out the waterfall in the picture above, just a bluish discoloration. There are signs all over the park telling people not to swim or wade in the water. I'm not sure what that's all about?! Bunch of parents were crazy about keeping their kids out of the water so even though I was aching to get in the water I just stepped from stone to stone until I stood under the waterfall ... that doesn't count, right?
This picture shows the (trickle of a) waterfall more clearly:
It’s a short drive to Cedar Falls, a nice waterfall that splits in two as it cascades down, before joining again and emptying into a small pool at the bottom. But first there are some more steps to go down!
The pretty falls, note again the lack of people in the water.
I had to do some pretty challenging boulder hopping to get this next picture; Cedar Falls emptying into the basin as seen from the side.
Random shot of the river leading away from the falls.
And another close up of a miniature waterfall along the way.
Old Man’s Cave is the park’s main attraction, but there’s much more to see here than just the cave. It's hard to pick one area of the park as my favorite, but this one's definitely high on the list because of its diversity.
There is yet another tiny waterfall tucked away in the corner.
There are also a couple of narrow tunnels you have to pass through.
Old Man’s Cave has its own "Man of the Mountain", the profile of a sphinx (on right, partly obscured by a tree unfortunately).
Right near the Sphinx is an area where water slowly drops down from an overhang and if you look to the ground you'll notice how the rock has blackened and worn away under the constant dripping.
From Old Man's Cave you can hike to both the Upper and Lower Falls. We haven't heard word one about either of them, but since we both love waterfalls it's not something to miss.
One of the cute stone bridges.
Upper Falls is probably the nicest fall in the entire park and one of the reasons why I loved Old Man's Cave. How ridiculously gorgeous is that?!
A lot of people are wading here so I can’t resist stepping under the waterfall. Instantly soaked and it feels so good!
Side view:
And a close-up
Continued in Day 5b: Hocking Hills to Zanesville
1 comments:
Hello darlings,
I just love this trip. Today the winding roads remind me of France.
I'm intrigued by Hopewell Culture National Park.
Did they never excevate a mound, just the surroundings?
Ash cave is stunning, quite different from Mesa Verde, but just as beautiful.
In the picture with the trickle you see big beams/logs lying around, probably the waterfall took them down. Maybe that's why it is prohibited to enter the water because you never know what's coming!
Love and xxx,
Joeve
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