ASH CAVE - OHIO

-ASH CAVE                              39.395993              -82.545927




In the Southernmost reaches of Hocking Hills is Ash Cave, beyond doubt the most spectacular feature of the entire park.

Ash Cave is named after the huge pile of ashes found under the shelter by early settlers.





There is an upper and lower trail at Ash Cave, each one approximately 1/2 mile long.

The lower is handicap accessible along a paved sidewalk ending in the large sandy region of the recess cave. It takes about a 1/2 hour to hike this trail.

The upper section is a little more rugged and takes 40-60 minutes.

Due to time constraints and squeezing in so much today, we chose to only hike in on the lower and visit the cave.

I have not yet hiked the upper at this location, so will make a point to next time I make it down. Hitting different trail sections next time will give the trip and photos a whole different perspective.






Ash Cave is the largest, most impressive recess cave in the state.

The horseshoe-shaped cave is massive; measuring 700 feet from end to end,100 feet deep from the rear cave wall to its front edge with the rim rising 90 feet high.

Pulpit Rock, the largest slumpblock at the caves entrance served as the pulpit for Sunday worship service until a local church could be built.





A small tributary of the East Fork of Queer Creek cascades over the rim into a small plunge pool below.





Turbo Jim and Gas Guzzler waving and having a marvelous time today - exploring all of these interesting natural wonders.





It makes for a tremendously exciting day, when combining multiple picturesque stops and hiking - along with hustling down the adrenaline producing curvy roads en route to the next location.

The ST was ran to the ragged edge a few times as I felt the front tire push or slip momentarily as I powered out of a corner while laying the bike over. The wore out tires were likely the cause and maybe the weight of the loaded up ST with my 230 pounds aboard.

Next stop is Conkle's Hollow but we need to find some lunch before hand as we have a longer uphill hike ahead of us there.