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Last Updated on May 20, 2023 by Natalie

I wanted to do some hiking during my most recent trip to Ohio. It turns out there are so many places to hike in Ohio. It’s even pretty easy to find hiking trails in Ohio with waterfalls, particularly in the Hocking Hills area. We ended up deciding to see a waterfall in Ohio and here’s the information about the trails we hiked within Hocking Hills.

Hiking to a waterfall in Ohio

Since my family is now spread across two states and two countries, our winter holiday gatherings have changed. We rented a large cabin in southern Ohio, right in the area known as Hocking Hills. While our primary focus was being together (and having WiFi this year for various reasons*), we went hiking as a secondary activity. The oldest members of the family didn’t even attempt to do this and, in their case, wouldn’t have been able to do the hikes. The ages of our hikers ranged from ages 8 years old, up to 48 years old.

First, we hiked to Old Man’s Cave, one of the most well known trails in the area. That hike is around 1 mile (1.6 km). After that, we were raring to do more!

*We loved our trip the previous year to Burr Oak State Park Lodge and Cabins, but there wasn’t WiFi in our cabins. Some in our party didn’t even have phone reception at the cabins, which was a challenge since they also had their animals being cared for and wanted to be available in case of any issues.

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Another great trail in Hocking Hills is the Rock House Trail, the entrance of which is a little over 8 miles (12.9 km) from Old Man’s Cave visitor center.

Trail to Old Man’s Cave

Old Man’s Cave trail is a great and popular trail. Even though it was a mild day on December 26, I still didn’t expect the parking lot to be nearly 2/3 full.  Everyone wanted to get some outside time and hiking the trail to Old Man’s Cave is a great way to do it.

Right after you enter the Old Man’s Cave trail, you are treated to a waterfall (as seen in the first photos in this post). You also cross the concrete step bridge. Following the trail, as it winds around, there is a lot of beautiful scenery. Along the way, you are even treated to more waterfalls.

Cedar Falls trail

We decided to hike to see Cedar Falls. Cedar Falls does have a parking area that is much closer to the falls. However, we opted to do the hike from the same starting area as the Old Man’s Cave trail.

Side note: the building adjacent to the parking lot here has bathrooms, as well as vending machines. The vending machines sell bottled water and electrolyte drinks for those who didn’t come prepared (such as us, ahem).

We started out, taking the longer, easier trail to get to the falls. This is a rim type of trail. There are a few spots with look outs over the gorgeous views. One of the look outs is over Devil’s Bathtub, where you can see the swirling, churning water. No, you can’t go wading in the water.

This trail takes you through the woods and when you get to a clearing, it turns out that it’s a lake. You can’t swim in Rose Lake, but they do apparently allow some types of activities. Then, the trail takes you back into the woods. There’s a stunning pedestrian suspension bridge over the creek, right around the parking area for Cedar Falls. When we went, it was really muddy as you are trying to step off the bridge onto the trail. After that point, it wasn’t too much longer to reach the steps that take you down into the area from which you can view Cedar Falls.

Fun fact: Cedar Falls was misnamed by early settlers, who mistook hemlock as cedar trees.

Hidden Falls

This is also where you can see the smaller, but also beautiful Hidden Falls. It’s a two for the price of one hike! Especially if you do park at the Cedar Falls parking lot and only want a short hike.

Pick one: longer, easier trail or shorter, more difficult trail? (Video)

While it is a much easier trail, we had some tired kids by the time we reached Cedar Falls. When presented with the option of returning the way we came or taking the shorter but more difficult trail, they opted for the latter. This trail was really challenging! My kids loved it. Their older, teen cousins helped them out a huge amount. My sister and I brought up the read of our party, being slower and stopping to take many photos.

Given that the trail has some pretty treacherous areas, so it was best for my anxiety that I had no idea of the challenges in advance and I also wasn’t watching my kids traverse it. They did awesome!

At the end of this trail, we had to climb what looked like about 5 stories worth of steps. This was so difficult for me, because I was already exhausted. However, we did it!

My sister and I hopped into the hot tub at our cabin after dinner, which prevented the majority of sore muscles.

I asked my 8 year old daughter if she liked the difficult trail we took back to our car from Cedar Falls and she responded, “I loved it and I want to do it again!”

Whispering Falls

Hocking Hills waterfalls

There are many parks in Ohio with waterfalls, particularly in the Hocking Hills area. Another hike I’ve enjoyed in the past is  the Ash Cave Gorge trail. These two particular trails are awesome because you see several seasonal waterfalls on your trip, including Whispering Falls above, which are one of the tallest in Ohio.

When hiking in Ohio, remember to bring these items

We hiked in the winter on a really mild, almost balmy day. Even in the winter, don’t forget to bring the following:

• water
• quality shoes
• sunscreen
• sunglasses

We didn’t bring water, as we didn’t expect to do quite as much distance as we ended up hiking that day, which was 5.5 miles or 8.85 km. Don’t make the same mistake!

Most of our hikes were in shady areas, but sunscreen and hats are always a good idea. In the summer, you may also want to bring bug spray.

I wore sneakers (trainers), as did the majority of our party. My children had hiking boots, which I think aided them in not falling during the hike.

 

Hiking in Ohio with waterfalls

There is actually a lot of hiking in Ohio with waterfalls, surprise! Where are the best waterfalls in Ohio? That’s another post for another time! Hopefully, by now, you realize that Ohio is a beautiful state. It’s a great vacation destination for hikers. I recommend the Cedar Falls trail, especially for experienced hikers. Take care on it after rainfall and during winter. It’s tough and worth it. I’m a beginner/casual hiker and I loved it!

What’s your favorite waterfall in Ohio? The best feedback comes from my readers. Please leave a comment. Thank you!

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