tripstocome: Hocking Hills, Ohio

The life changing event that I spoke of was the death of my son, which happened November of '08. So we, as a family were dreading the upcoming holiday season and didn't know exactly what we wanted to do but after doing alot of reading and talking to counselors it was suggested that we start some new traditions.

So Hocking Hills was recommended to me by a friend. I did a little bit of research about it and decided that was were we were going to go. It is in Central Ohio a little south of Columbus. We went for a long weekend and the weather that year was actually very cooperative. It was a little bit soggy but pretty warm and were able to do some hiking and see the majority of the sites.

We rented a cabin called The Two Trees Inn. hockinghills.com/twotrees/ A great place with tons of charm. The owners have included unique touches throughout the cabin, the dinning room table was a long slab from tree that had been varnished to a high gloss, there was a loft w/ a beautiful private bath, some of the supporting beams and ladder were branches, one of the bedrooms had a little nook where a bunk was placed, they had a library of book, a pool table, ping pong, a wonderful deck with a view of the woods and the pond and a fire ring. We loved it there and would love to go back.

There are alot of hiking opportunities in the area but most of them had shorter options if you had elderly or disabled parties in your group they can still enjoy the wonderful scenery of the rock formations and the falls. Most of the trails are in a central location and easy to get to, off of main roads or state parks. Some of the sites to see are Old Man's Cave, Ash Cave, Conkles Hollow, Cantwell Cliffs, and Cedar Falls.

There are also some great shops in the area.....they have some unique things with local flavor, some antique shops as well.

We had a wonderful time and I highly recommend Hocking Hills for a get away for friends, families, girls or guys weekend anything and of course it is puppie friendly. At the time we went we only had Tucker. He was soo funny running around the cabin taking in all the smells.