Thursday, September 29, 2011

Conkles Hollow; Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio

Thanks to BETH  (blog friend from Ohio),  we decided to check out one of her favorite places,  the Hocking Hills State Park,  near Logan, Ohio...  What a fabulous place!!!! Wow!!!!  I'm glad that the state has preserved this area.  There are fabulous caves,  hiking trails, hollows and yes,  WATERFALLS.   We spent two days there ---and took in as much of the park as possible. 

The most popular area is the Old Man's Cave area.  We saved that one until the 2nd day.  On the first day,  we saw the Ash Cave area and waterfalls,  the Cedar Falls area,  and the Conkles Hollow area..

Conkles Hollow is not one of the popular areas --but was truly one of our favorite places... Seems as if George and I always like areas which are not so heavily traveled and full of tourists.... IF you have not been to Hocking Hills,  you need to go there sometime,  especially if you love hiking in gorgeous wooded areas.  The trails are all in good shape (even though they had some damage from recent storms). 

Today,  I'll share some photos from our hike into Conkles Hollow....  This area was truly breath-taking... I felt like I had walked straight into heaven.   There were ferns and moss  and greenery everywhere... It was one of the most peaceful places I have ever been.

There are two waterfalls in that hollow.   One was inside a cave (named Lower Falls) ---and had a tiny tiny bit of water.  The other (Reckworth Falls)  was totally dry.  BUT--we are still so glad we visited this area...  Hope you enjoy the photos.  Click on them to enlarge.  The picture above shows our trail...




Can you see all of the ferns on the hillside?  AND--look at the moss on that big boulder.




Here is George on our path.... We both were blown away by the beauty in this area.




This picture shows some of the many caves and rock formations in this area.




We walked inside of this cave to check out the waterfall...  But --the best view was looking back outside!!!!




Doesn't this area look like paradise????  We loved it!!!!




I love this picture that George took of the moss growing on the log.... And--you can see a close-up of some of the trillions of ferns.





Finally,  here's one last photo of Conkles Hollow...  Don't miss this little hike --if you get to Hocking Hills!!!!  It is so peaceful and just plain AWESOME!  Thanks Beth (and others) who have promoted Hocking Hills on your blogs...  That's why we went there!!!

Have a wonderful day.
Hugs,
Betsy