After procrastinating for months, I've finally pulled and organized the second half of the photos from our trip to Hocking Hills! Last time, I shared our hike through Old Man's Cave. Today, I'd like to show you around Ash Cave and Cedar Falls!
The walk down into Ash Cave is a short one from the parking lot. We visited in the middle of July, with scattered rainstorms making the weather particularly humid.
As this sign warns, there are many abrupt drop offs along this trail. It's still kid friendly, but certainly a place to keep a close eye on small ones.
One of my favorite things about this area are all the ferns that decorate the landscape. This friendly foliage always brings me vast joy!
Unique rock faces can be seen everywhere here. I always like these ones, which have been perforated from time.
As we get down into Ash Cave, I can see it's a busy day there. Probably two or three hundred people were there at the same time as us!
Thea was delighted by this nature made arch, and was happy to pose for a photo for once. Behind her, you can see the walls of the "cave".
Standing in Ash Cave is somewhat like being in a giant punch bowl looking out. In its center is a cute little waterfall, doing its best to fill the bowl, but never quite making it.
When visiting Hocking Hills, I get a real kick out of the trees growing on the edge of cliffs. Here you can see a few hanging on the rim of the bowl-shaped formations.
One tree here is straight up growing sideways! How inspirational.
Of course, the children ran straight towards the water to play, with dad and grandma keeping an eye on them. Many of the waterfalls in the park are off limits, conservation of wildlife is a huge priority in the park.
With the kids overjoyed that this one was okay to play in, I got a chance to wander around and take some photos.
It was so busy, that I found it hard to get any good shots. I never wanted to be the person standing in the way to take pictures, but I ended up being that lady a lot on this trip.
I decided to try and find an unpopulated trail, and succeeded. I crossed over a stream, soaking my shoes, and walked up a hill. From my new vantage point, I was able to get some uncrowded photos of this spot.
Down below, Thea was having the time of her life! By the time we left there, I had to straight up wring this girl out.
The waterfall makes this giant puddle, which is the perfect splash pad when you are only five! The floating piece of wood behind her became a balance board, which offered a lot of giggles.
Emory wasn't too sure about all this, and stayed at the edges of the water.
He did cheer Thea on though, being a constant supporter of whatever the heck she may be doing.
In these photos, you can see the light flow of this waterfall. Standing under it, Thea looked like some kind of magical forest princess to me.
I of course opted to stay dry, although it was tempting to go play in the waterfall too with how hot it was.
We let Thea get properly soaked for a long while, knowing she'd have a meltdown if we rushed her on. Plus, she was already drenched, so why not.
Looking up, the waterfall appears a bit stronger. I took some time to admire the layers in the rock as the kids played. Each time I visit Hocking Hills State Park, I'm totally in awe of how lovely all of the rockfaces are!
I noticed while there that the butterfly population was thriving. It added to the magical vibe of these trails, with wings of all colors gracing the view.
I was taking some snaps of this cutie pie yellow butterfly as Thea played, watching it open and shut it's wings slowly. As I watched it, this blue butterfly flew in to join it!
From under the overhanging rock, I took a few more snaps to try and capture what it feels like to stand in Ash Cave. As you can see in the second snap here, this location stayed bustling the whole time we were there.
We ended up staying in Ash Cave for a few hours, walking around once Thea got out of the water so she could dry off.
Heading back to the car, we loaded up for the short drive over to Cedar falls!
Cedar Falls is a bit more of a hike than Ash Cave, but well worth the walk! We started off by going down some stone staircases.
This trip ended up being stairs 101 for my son Emory, as beforehand he wasn't very self-sufficient on them.
By the end of our vacation, he was a certified stairs pro however!
As we walked down the trail, there was a lot of expressed gratitude over the lack of rain. Our hike in Old Man's Cave the day before had been a very soggy endeavor.
As we walked along, I head a bear in the distance, but sadly couldn't find it. I had really hoped to photograph a bear on this trip.
Emory decided to skip some rocks in the stream that flows from the waterfall. The rocks gave the water an eerie and mystical color, making me feel as if we were somewhere far more mysterious than Southren Ohio.
Just looking over all of these photos makes me wish I could go back... Look at all of the incredible details in the rocks here! Simply stunning.
For only the second time that day, I was able to get both of the kids in one frame. Here they are conquering this boulder, which Thea informed me she was the mayor of.
As you can see, she dried up super well, which was a blessing!
As we got close to Cedar Falls, I spotted a little face bobbing along in the water. I may have said one or a hundred times on Hive, I flipping LOVE turtles!
He must've known I was trying to take his picture, because he began to swim towards me! Thanks Mr. Snapping Turtle!
Right before the waterfall is this metal sign, which recounts some of the history of this location.
Then we laid eyes on this beauty!
As we took this sight in, my mother-in-law told me that she once saw someone repelling into the caves arround the waterfall. That sounds like a blast, I'd love to do that myself someday!
After soaking up the view, we were all ready for some rest. The hike back to the car started up this stone staircase, then quickly got interesting. In the photo to the left here, you can see how shaky the path became. We ended up carrying the little guy out, as it felt a bit too dangerous to let him walk.
I was able to grab these last few snaps of the hike out before my hands became occupied helping kiddos along. When we got back to the car, Emory was out like a light in his car seat. It was a busy day for a little guy.
I had only purchased my camera a handful of weeks before this trip. I didn't get anything remarkable to photograph before then, so it was amazing to experiment with it! By the end of the vacation, I was solidly off auto mode, and had settled in to selecting the correct settings.
If you find yourself in southern Ohio, Hocking Hills is an absolute must see while there. Beyond the locations I've blogged about, there are roughly half a dozen additional unique places to visit in the state park. One could easily spend a week or more there!
I hope you've enjoyed trekking through Ash Cave and Cedar Falls with me!
All photos are my own, taken with a Canon EOS Rebel T100. Header Image designed on Canva.
[//]:# (!pinmapple 39.39952 lat -82.54375 long Ash Cave d3scr)
[//]:# (!pinmapple 39.41865 lat -82.52422 long Cedar Falls d3scr)
