Ash Cave is Ohio's largest stone recess cave, and it is located in Hocking Hills. The walls of the cave stretch 90 feet high, and it is 700 feet wide. This stone recess and the others that I have posted about in Hocking Hills (Old Man's Cave) were created from water eroding away at the rock over thousands of years. Ash Cave was my favourite attraction in Hocking Hills State Park. There are two trails to get to it; one trail goes on the high ground and the other goes through the middle of the gorge. Although it is not advertised on the trail map at the entrance, the clifftop trail contains a number of steps and hill climbs with some uneven steps, so I do not recommend it. Ash Cave is located about a seven-minute walk along the gorge (lower) trail and does not require any steps, so it was perfect for people with mobility issues, small children, and dog walkers.
We actually went to Ash Cave twice within a couple of days. On the second visit, my parents and two brothers with their wives and small children turned up in the area for the wedding (covered in a later post), so we went as a group. This visit happened after two days of constant rain, so the waterfall at Ash Cave noticably had more water.
We visited in late October, and the trees should have had their autumn colours, but the unusual weather in Ohio this year meant that the seasons were a couple of weeks behind. I did catch some glimpses of yellow.
On the first visit to Ash Cave, the water trickled off the cliff edge and into a pool below. The cave is actually massive, and the people in my photographs help to scale just how big of an area that it really is.
Archeological finds at Ash Cave include arrows, pottery fragments, flint tools, corn cobs, and animal bones. This area was once the home of the Wyandot native American tribes. Through these finds, it is known they hunted black bear, elk, deer, turkey, squirrel, duck, and rabbits. In the 1790s, settlers started to come into the area and claimed the land for farming and mining gunpowder. Hocking Hills was largely preserved due to the number of cliffs and gorges, which makes it impossible for farming.
Ash Cave also has wonderful acoustics, so it was used for public meetings in the early 1800s. The cave got its name for the ashes inside the cave floor. The ashes would have been from campfires of the native Americans, and the ashes could be seen as late as the late 1800s.
The ground around the cave is actually formed of white sand.
On the second visit, I got some family photographs and caught beautiful glimpses of the sun shining through the trees; the sun was a rarity during the end of October and particularly after two days of solid rain.
Ash Cave is such a beautiful place, and it was my favourite attraction to visit in Hocking Hills. If you're interested in the other attractings at Hocking Hills, please see my posts below for what to do here and in the immediate area.
Cedar Falls
Hocking Hills Winery
Old Man's Cave
Pizza Crossing
Cantwell Cliffs and Millstone BBQ
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