Hocking Hills, Ohio

By: Jody Weldy

I have only ridden Hocking Hills once and that was in June of 2004. We stayed at the Three Reasons Campground which was a really great place to camp but I understand they are no longer open.

On this trip, our neighbors went along with us. They are new to trail riding and having not been to Hocking Hills before I didn't know what to expect. When we arrived, our friends went to the store to get their food and Bruce and I saddled up for a quick ride. Right out of camp, still on Three Reasons property was a cute little trail and followed along cliff edge although in most places it was a good 30 feet away. Bruce and I didn't think much of it, having ridden trails like that before but the next morning when we took our friends along, they took one look at the tree tops knowing very well the drop off was a steep one and they took the first trail that went back to camp and never rode with us the rest of the week!

Just off the private property where we were staying was the trail to the Box Canyon. This was a beauty of a trail and dead ended into a water fall and pond. On our way out, we went up a short hill to a two roomed cave we had been told about from folks we knew that had ridden there before. I had packed a good flashlight in my saddle bags knowing we'd ride this cave and I needed the light when I rode into the second room. It was nice and cool in there and my horse was more than ready to stay awhile with the coolness of the cave. It was in the high 90's the whole week we were there.

After riding back out of the Box Canyon, we took the trail that lead to the parking lot at the repelling area. Here there was a nice big creek and a great place to water your horse. We then headed up the trail through some really neat rock formations. After picking your way through the rocks the trail followed the edge of the cliff and this is where so many folks repelled. The views were awesome and many times the trail was right next to the edge. Unfortunately instead of following the edge for however long it was, the trail left the cliff's edge and up the hill in order to keep horses away from the replellers. Reasoning was that at times there are so many repellers that the horses were having to step over repelling ropes that stretched over the trail. I'd have to agree, it would not be too safe.

We rode over by Conkle's Hollow but it was closed for construction so we didn't get to see it. The forest had just been tore up by a oil company putting in pipelines all over and when we rode it, the work was done but they had put down number 2's for gravel and it was a little rough for the horses riding on it.

It rained quite a bit while we were there and some of the trails were a muddy mess and I even hated riding them. Some of the trails weren't anything to write home about but the riding through the big rocks was great.

I've had folks tell me the riding is rough over there but we didn't find any of that but again, we didn't ride the whole forest because of the heat that week.

You may contact me at jmweldy@verizon.net

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