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We are in the early stages of planning a camping trip to Hocking Hills. We live in Michigan south of Detroit. We do not know anything at all about Hocking Hills, just heard about it and it seems like a neat place. We have been camping in Mcihgian's UP lately, so we thought we would try a different direction.
Camping will be my son (17) and I and possibly part or all of the time my daughter (25) who live in Bowling Green, and my wife, and maybe another son (21). We like wilderness camping. Canoeing/Kayaking. Son 1 likes fishing. I love caves. Waterfalls canyons and trees are awesome. Hiking is great (hopefully i will ahve my knee fixed by then). Zion canyon is my favorite place to visit and I heard Hocking Hills is simlar. My personality is such that if i see a hill, cliff tree, I want to climb it. When I see a bigger hill cliff tree on the other side, then I want to go climb that. We like challenges, but do not want ot be miserable. The boys are athletic/adventurous, my daughter mixed, but my wife will likely prefer to hang out at the campsite or sit by a waterfall and read while we go do stuff (if she comes). I do nto sit still very well, at least not for long.
We will come in late June. Probably two weekends and five weekdays. We will likely stay in a tent(s).
I would appreciate any suggestions or comments people can make. Here are some specific questions:
Should we bring our canoe? It is a PIA to haul. Is there enough accessible rivers/lakes to make use of it? Better to just rent one for a day or is there days and days of canoeing? We enjoy canoe camping (ie. put your tent and get in the canoe and go down a river for several days) is this practical here? We do not want to spend all our time canoeing on ordinary water, we can do that in our front yard. Canoeing through a canyon would be awesome, or to a waterfall, or a cave. If we could canoe to a waterfall, canyon or cave and then camp there it would be perfect. If we could camp right on a sizable body of water where we could keep the canoe right there on shore and go in and out whenever, that would be nice.
Any mild rapids/whitewater around? OR crazy rapids (Class Iv or V), with a place to rent rafts and a guide?
Where would you recommend camping? We would like to be close to water, but secluded, no campers, quiet, away from roads and attractions (ie natural). Some place hard to get to is perfect (we have a 4x4 truck).
What things do you recommend a the best places to spend some time? We like to spend some time relaxing. Sitting by a waterfall is a great place to think. However we do not want to miss the coolest things to see/do because we spend too much time doing ordinary things you can do camping anyplace.
Not sure whether we will have any money beyond camping costs, but if we do, what do you all think of any of the following things (from the internet): hot air balloon; zip line tour. Sand Park where you can operate heavy construction equipment. (Will add more later).
Which caves are the neatest? Are there any caves with unusual entry challenges (ie. you need a canoe, or you have to crawl wade, etc?
Is there enough to see/do in the area for ten days, or is that too long?
We enjoy historic architecture too are there ant historic towns in the vicinity?
Camp in one place or move around? this depends on whether one place is centrally located and all the neat trails, rivers canyons etc are nearby, or whether it might be better to camp one place for a few days, explore the area then move to a new location.
Usually on a long camping trip, we like to take a day in the middle and return to civilization for a few hours, go to a movie (air conditioning for 3 hours!), have lunch etc. Any suggestions on a nearby place? I really liked Cincinnati when I visited there recently, anywhere as neat?
We might take a day and run down to Louisville KY to take their underground zip line course (through a cave). Anyone been there? Is it worth 8 hours driving round trip or are the Hocking Hills Ziplines better?
We dislike bugs. mosquito we expect and can deal with. What else should we expect? Ticks, leeches, horseflies, black flies, fire ants, bears, giant earthquake worms from tremors?
Should we bring bikes? Are there a lot of neat places to bike to form the campgrounds, or is it more drive-hike or drive-canoe to get to the cool things to see/experience?
We already know about the pencil sharpener museum, so you do not need to direct us there.
I know a lot of this is subjective and depends on our preferences, but in those instances, please let me know your preferences and why. (Unless you think camping is a hotel with no room service, then do not bother, we do not have enough in common. At least with regard to the outdoorsy stuff).
The Hocking Hills area is one of the best things in Ohio, the Air Force Museum a close second. Hocking Hills is a number of different parks with unusual features at each that are within 27 miles of each other, Cantwell Cliffs, Rock House, Conkle's Hollow, Old Man's Cave, Cedar Falls and Ash Cave. There is the Grandma Gatewood hiking trail that is quite long, it would take 3 or 4 days to see everything, there is no places there to canoe and if you are lucky there will be a lot of rain to keep water in the creeks, but not too far from Lake Logan.
There are several campgrounds, one on SR 664 has a swimming pool.
I don't know of and whitewater rafting but I highly doubt it.
Nearest town is Logan, McArthur is a very small town in the middle of Vinton County.
There are not as many mosquitos as there are in Michigan, as far as black flies, fire ants, bears there are none, at least not like there are in Maine.
There is no way to get around on the trails on bikes, you would just drive from one lot to the next and hike the trails, many have staircases.
I took the pics in this thread just over 9 years ago, pics of the falls were taken right after a heavy rain storm.
I can speak a bit to kayaking/canoeing there since I've done it before, woxyrome has a far better explanation of the area than I can provide for the rest (the trails are beautiful btw)
The kayaking/canoeing there is decent but POPULAR. The river was very crowded on the weekend we went in July, it was a party-like atmosphere (redneck party). Lots of beer, larger men an women, boots and cowboy hats. If you're expecting a scenic kayaking trip to be at one with nature, I wouldn't recommend the Hocking River around Nelsonville at all. So that might be good enough to justify leaving the kayaks at home haha.
If you're looking for a decent place to go kayaking in Ohio, I've heard good things about the Mohican area (kinda by Mansfield) and can personally say the Great Miami and Little Miami rivers are great for it too. But more and more people are discovering this too so I'm not sure if the culture has changed to be similar to that of the Hocking River or not, kinda doubt it though.
Sorry, I missed the fact there's a lot of question in the OP, I'd be happy to take some time to answer a few more
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Originally Posted by Coldjensens
Any mild rapids/whitewater around? OR crazy rapids (Class Iv or V), with a place to rent rafts and a guide?
For taht you'd want to drive another 2-3 hours to West Virginia to the New River or something, I've heard there's great rapids there. The section of the Hocking River I went on was still and flat, very easy canoeing.
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Where would you recommend camping? We would like to be close to water, but secluded, no campers, quiet, away from roads and attractions (ie natural). Some place hard to get to is perfect (we have a 4x4 truck).
I honestly cannot say, Lake Logan State Park might be a neat place to set up but it's a bit far from the Hocking stuff (about 30 min drive), otehrwise I'm sure there's a ton of good places down there, not sure which are best though.
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What things do you recommend a the best places to spend some time? We like to spend some time relaxing. Sitting by a waterfall is a great place to think. However we do not want to miss the coolest things to see/do because we spend too much time doing ordinary things you can do camping anyplace.
Ash Cave and Old Man's cave are the top two neatest in my opinion, but Conkle's Hollow, etc. is awe inspiring too. For sitting by a waterfall to think probably Ash Cave would be best, it's not a high flow waterfall but i is beautiful nonetheless.
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Not sure whether we will have any money beyond camping costs, but if we do, what do you all think of any of the following things (from the internet): hot air balloon; zip line tour. Sand Park where you can operate heavy construction equipment. (Will add more later).
Sand park? I've never heard of such a thing, that sounds awesome!!! I'd go there, but just because it's so unique. Ziplines are very controlled and kinda painful at times if you've never done them before, not my favorite, but if it's your thing then this might be a good place to go for it. Hot Air Balloon I'd rather do in an urban area myself, but it might be good here. So I'd choose the sand park hands down, that sounds really cool.
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Which caves are the neatest? Are there any caves with unusual entry challenges (ie. you need a canoe, or you have to crawl wade, etc?
None that I'm aware of, and actually the "caves" referenced aren't real caves for the most part. They are stunningly beautiful and large complex rock formations. Good caves are about 2 hours southwest at Carter Caves State Park, the park has an amazing variety of caves and good RV hookups too. It might be a destination worth considering.
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Is there enough to see/do in the area for ten days, or is that too long?
I'll be honest, this is too long. It'll take about 3 days to see the sights in Hocking Hills SP and the Hocking Valley at a casual and relaxed pace. I'd combine this time with some whitewater rafting in WV, or spelunking at Carter Caves and nearby parks in KY, checking out the Red River Gorge and Horse Country/Bourbon Country in KY, or some time exploring cities in the area like Columbus, Cincy as you mention, Pittsburgh (skip the museums there though), even Huntington and Charleston have a little bit of stuff to do you wouldn't find in Detroit or surrounding areas.
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We enjoy historic architecture too are there ant historic towns in the vicinity?
Yes! All kinds actually. It'd be a crime to not stop in Athens and check out Ohio University while you are there, the town is pretty and the campus is beautiful. Chillicothe has some neat architecture too and great native american sites (the Tecumseh show is good too, so I've heard). Marietta is Ohio's first town, nearby, and has an amazing historic core with some great museums, shops, and restaurants. If you want some beauty in despair, a number of pretty small town in rough shape litter the region as well, Urban Ohio will have some good photo threads of a few worth checking out in person. Huntington WV is pretty cool with the mall downtown, it might be worth checking out, and Ripley is worth it just for the underground railroad stuff alone. Especially with kids, if they have any passion whatsoever for history it'd be hard to beat seeing the Rankin house.
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Camp in one place or move around? this depends on whether one place is centrally located and all the neat trails, rivers canyons etc are nearby, or whether it might be better to camp one place for a few days, explore the area then move to a new location.
Move around. The reason why is because even though it's centrally located the roads are curvy and slow so travel times down there are long between close points. You're going to want to get out and get on the highway and moving fast to see as much as you can while you're in the area.
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Usually on a long camping trip, we like to take a day in the middle and return to civilization for a few hours, go to a movie (air conditioning for 3 hours!), have lunch etc. Any suggestions on a nearby place? I really liked Cincinnati when I visited there recently, anywhere as neat?
It's hard to be as neat as Cincy nowadays, especially with the revival of the neighborhoods large and small like OTR and Northside, but a few places might come close, most of which I listed above (Marietta, Huntington, Athens, Chillicothe, Pittsburgh to name a few). If Cincy was your cup of tea then Pittsburgh should be a must-see in particular.
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We might take a day and run down to Louisville KY to take their underground zip line course (through a cave). Anyone been there? Is it worth 8 hours driving round trip or are the Hocking Hills Ziplines better?
I have, it's nice, but not sure if it's "drive 8 hours to go to it" nice. It's a cavern rather than a cave, so it's a large man-made underground space roughly the size of the Louisville Zoo that sits above it, if I remember correctly. A few businesses have built out spaces in the cavern and have facilities set up there, it's really neat actually. They have a tour you can go on where they drive you around the cavern and let you see former bunker setups, etc. also the ziplines are dimly illuminated so it'd add some extra thrill (maybe?). If you're in Louisville anyways Bardstown Rd. is a must-see, and there are some neat museums and cultural attractions in the area worth the visit.
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We dislike bugs. mosquito we expect and can deal with. What else should we expect? Ticks, leeches, horseflies, black flies, fire ants, bears, giant earthquake worms from tremors?
I'd expect a few of each of those, but nothing too crazy. Possibly black flies might be bad depending on when you go, they are always a nuisance but my family has found large full-brimmed hats help a lot with keeping them away.
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Should we bring bikes? Are there a lot of neat places to bike to form the campgrounds, or is it more drive-hike or drive-canoe to get to the cool things to see/experience?
From the campgrounds, it'll be more drive-hike and drive-canoe rather than bike because it's so hilly, unless you're up for a great leg workout. Also there's not a lot of good places to bike there, unless you have a mountain bike with excellent tires. So I'd probably advise against bikes, however if you want to go biking consider making Yellow Springs OH a destination, it's on a 340-mile long bike trail system, the parks are beautiful, the town is awesome (very "alternative vibes" kinda place, Whole Foods before Whole Foods became popular and commercialized kinda culture there), might be worth considering.
Quote:
We already know about the pencil sharpener museum, so you do not need to direct us there.
I know a lot of this is subjective and depends on our preferences, but in those instances, please let me know your preferences and why. (Unless you think camping is a hotel with no room service, then do not bother, we do not have enough in common. At least with regard to the outdoorsy stuff).
Hello, my husband and I are planning to camp in a couple State Parks in Ohio. I've been looking at sites to reserve for our travel trailor and all the SP I've looked at say 50 amps on their electrical sites. Is this the maximum? It seems odd they don't have any 30 amp sites. We're kinda new to camping in a RV!
Hello, my husband and I are planning to camp in a couple State Parks in Ohio. I've been looking at sites to reserve for our travel trailor and all the SP I've looked at say 50 amps on their electrical sites. Is this the maximum? It seems odd they don't have any 30 amp sites. We're kinda new to camping in a RV!
Contact the Ohio DNR directly, or individual state park campgrounds, with any questions. Let us know what you find out. Apparently some Ohio State park campgrounds do offer 30-amp sites.
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