Ohio Road Trip – The Hocking Hills, part 3.

Hocking Hills State Park

Cedar Falls

Here’s the third and final part of a recent family Hocking Hills getaway weekend.  Make sure you see part one and part two which will fill in some of the background about this interesting location in southeast Ohio.

We visited Cedar Falls, another area of the park:

The name Cedar Falls is a misnomer — the result of mistaken identity. Early settlers to the area misidentified the stately hemlock trees as cedar trees; consequently, this park was incorrectly named. Despite the mistake, the name Cedar Falls has been used ever since.

The beauty of Cedar falls began drawing visitors right away. The scenic gorge was, and is, an added bonus. In the early 1800’s, a trading post was built just a short distance downstream from the falls. It served the Indians and early settlers alike. There is a cave in the gorge where the Indians and early settlers obtained saltpeter, which was used in the curing of meat.

The water plunges 50 feet over the falls. Cedar Falls has the greatest volume of water of all the falls in Hocking County and is easily the most photographed of waterfalls in Ohio. It has been featured in magazines, newspapers, film and calendars and is at its glorious best during the rainy season, since its feeder stream is little more than a roadside gully.

The high trees effectively filtered the suns rays

Cedar Falls gorge was down this steep slope

Taking the winding stairs was the best way down

Down in the gorge, finally

The sandstone cliff was impressive

The gorge floor had a rugged beauty, accentuated by the morning sunlight

The stream still had minnows in it swimming around in the chilly water

The falls area

These stairs led back up by a more direct but quite rugged route

The cliff face had fractured, making this part of the route very tricky

Sliding down a tilted boulder and walking through some tight spaces were required

Back up onto some easy steps!

A very scenic place, though it took some effort to see- we slept well that night

Our last day was off to a sunny start

These Turkey Vultures roosted in a couple of trees- back home, they are more scarce this time of year

A Red-Breasted Nuthatch searches a tree for hidden goodies

You don’t see many of these anymore!  The cabins had no phones and cell reception was not the best

On our way to check out, we had a close encounter with deer

The welcome center had some hot coffee and a drive-through check in & out window

We bought some souvenirs inside

On the road again

One last adventure occurred.  On the way back, we stopped by an old house where my mother spent some time while growing up.  My brother’s dog found a dead opossum alongside the road and rolled on it!  I was quick with the camera and got a shot of the action:

Oh no!

The odor was rather skunk-like and not pleasant…wiping fur down with stream water only helped a little

That’s one odorous and unhappy dog!  We weren’t so happy either!

Never underestimate a few strawberry air fresheners!  They helped, anyways!

A pancake treat helped distract him until he got to a dog power-wash at a car wash

The road home- that was a great weekend getaway, even if the end wasn’t as fragrant as it could have been 🙂