Making fresh pressed coffee on a hike.

 

Hocking Hills State Park Ohio Outing

 

We love doing what we love doing. It’s a passion that many don’t understand. Like going to bed at 2000 to wake up at midnight and after making breakfast to watch a sunrise on a fire tower that’s 3.5 hours away.

Those experiences for the people who know it is amazing and for others they say I would never.

After making a pot of fresh ground bean coffee and having breakfast I headed out to the Hocking Hills State Park area.

I had read other reviews about the fire tower and how unsuitable it is for some people. Yes, the stairs have no risers. The small platforms at each landing do have some chain link fences on them. You cannot enter the structure, but you still can see an amazing view. I will attach the timelapse below of the sunrise.

I would also be chasing a few waterfalls today. I would be staring at the hike a little earlier than normal for myself and that’s only because I was trying to stay ahead of the number of potential hikers today.

As I hiked up into the gorge of the Twin Sisters Falls you could see the erosion damage from the storms from last year. A good amount of soil erosion had taken place, and it exposed new rock formations. This also has exposed quite a bit of tree roots and they have also fallen.

Some of the newer smaller waterfalls you could see them because of the ice dams that they left behind.

I was only going to do a short hike because of the amount of time I was going to spend driving there and back. I would still get in a miler with an elevation deviation of over 3000 feet throughout the hike.

I changed my GoPro settings to shoot in 9x16 format because it was more important to see the high walls of the gorges.

I hope you enjoy the artwork.

Brandywine Creek Gorge in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park - Video Entry

 

Video Compilation from Hiking Brandywine Creek in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park on 12.13.2025

 

First Creek Winter Hike on Paine Creek, Ohio

 

11.11.2025 Hiking through video

 

Fall Colors in the Brandywine Creek Gorge

 

Video Collage

 

Hell Hollow Wilderness Area- Lake County Ohio

 

I relearned that just because it’s called Wilderness and it’s not in Montana, Maine, or Michigan it should not be discounted.

I have seen Hell Hollow a few times on an Ohio Map, but again I discounted it.  I never gave it a fair shake.  Information for the park can be found here and here

I strapped on my waders and unlike the last time I was here in February Paine Creek was flowing with no ice jambs.

I arrived and people were at the pavilion having a little family picnic celebrating graduation.

I hiked in my waders and wading boots to the high falls that be found here N41° 40.953' W81° 06.915'. This is a double waterfall. This has two waterfalls that have been created through water erosion done differently.

A lot of the shale was covered in brown algae. This stuff grew where the water was not constantly moving over it.  This stuff was slick so slick I fell once while not really paying attention to where my feet were going.

I walked back 1.2 miles in the creek to the main falls that everyone sees and the bottom of the stairs after you walk through the woods, I am guessing 300 yards.

This creek was primarily a exposed limestone bed and extremely smooth.  It has several smooth potholes in the creek bottom from water erosion.

I remembered seeing other waterfalls downstream from the aerial photos I have seen.  I continued my creek hiking downstream.  I saw two more waterfalls after this one and I could hear another.  This waterfall can be found here N41° 41.880' W81° 07.483'

I looked downstream and the riverbed looked to had dropped 15 feet vertically downstream.  I could also hear another waterfall.  This waterfall was higher than the other one at the north most end of my hike.

This southern waterfall can be found here N41° 41.919' W81° 07.461'

This waterfall, like the more northerly one, has a great swimming hole at the bottom of it.

I climbed out of the creek and jumped onto the trail. The trail was established but it was hard to follow them as you get closer to the bottom of stairs to climb out of the gorge.

I ended my hike after climbing out of the gorge.  Hell Hollow Wilderness is an amazing little gem. This area would be great to watch birds.  The other time of year that would be great would be fall. All the hardwood trees with a mix of hemlock trees would be a great mix of fall colors and greens.

Here is an aerial view of the route.

Here is my mapping program overall hike path.

Nelson-Kennedy Ledges State Park Ohio Part 2

In Ohio you can find gems in plain sight. I have been close to this park in my travels through Ohio. I have never stopped until today.  Herre is the State of Ohio Park link 

With all the rain I knew the waterfalls would be running hard. I had full access to Cascade Falls and they are getting close to wrapping up the construction project on Minnehaha Falls.

This place has a lot of mud after it rains so be very prepared. I wore my waders, and a wading jacket and I was dry as it continued to rain all day.

This place is close to the road, it’s in the country but I am sure as the water is wet it teams with people in the warmer months.

The rock formations are incredible. I want to believe with my limited knowledge of geology and erosion patterns these have eroded by an ancient river.  This is not sitting go no plateau or atop a mountain and constantly being bombarded by winds.  The other point to make the erosion patterns appear to be from the bottom up.  Water still runs at the bases of a lot of these huge pieces or rocks.

Here are some better sources that explain the geology of Nelson – Kennedy Ledges:

Ohio State Link 01

Geology Link 01

Ohio Department of Natural Resources Info

Ohio State Link 02

There are loops you can hike. I only did 1.8 miles but there is more to hike by using other loops.  I hope you enjoy the videos!

Nelson-Kennedy Ledges State Park Ohio Part 1

I have been in near this park several times in my travels. Today the weather was wet and I knew the crowds woud be zero today with all the potential of alot of mud. 

The rains have been relentless around the Great Lakes lately. This is our spring weather and it will help us alot during the summer months. 

I hope you enjoy the artwork.