The History Beneath Your Cabin: How Hocking Hills Was Built

Every guest who books your cabin is sleeping on top of 330 million years of geological history, walking trails built by Depression-era workers, and visiting caves that sheltered hermits, traders, and Native American nations. That story is your competitive advantage. Here’s what every Hocking Hills host should know—and share with guests.

330 Million Years Underfoot

The rock beneath every cabin in Hocking Hills is Blackhand sandstone, deposited more than 330 million years ago when this part of Ohio was covered by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Ocean currents deposited immense amounts of sand and gravel over millennia. As the ocean receded, millions of years of groundwater and stream erosion carved the sandstone into the caves, gorges, cliffs, and waterfalls that guests hike through today.

Ash Cave—700 feet wide, 100 feet deep—is Ohio’s largest recess cave, carved entirely from this ancient sandstone. Cedar Falls, at 50 feet, is the largest waterfall by volume in Hocking County. These aren’t just pretty scenery. They’re geological formations older than the dinosaurs.

The Glacier That Never Came

Here’s a fact that surprises most visitors: the glaciers that shaped much of Ohio never actually reached the Hocking Hills. About 100,000 years ago, glacial activity stopped just north of this region. But the glaciers changed the climate of all of Ohio to a cool, moist environment. That climate persisted in only a few places—most notably in the deep gorges of the Hocking Hills.

This is why you see Canadian hemlocks and other cool-climate species growing in the gorges: they’re relics of a glacial-era microclimate that has persisted for thousands of years. The deep gorges act as natural refrigerators, maintaining conditions that disappeared everywhere else in Ohio long ago.

The People Who Were Here First

The Adena culture is believed to be among the first inhabitants of the Hocking Hills area. In the 18th century, Delaware, Wyandot, and Shawnee nations traveled through and lived in the region.

The name “Hocking” itself comes from the Delaware word meaning “bottle,” describing the shape of the Hocking River’s falls. Hocking County was created in 1818.

The Hermit of Old Man’s Cave

The namesake of Old Man’s Cave—the park’s most popular hiking area—is Richard Rowe, an 18th-century trader and hermit who lived in the cave with his hounds from approximately 1796 until his death in the early 1800s. He chose one of the most dramatic geological formations in Ohio as his home, and the name stuck for over two centuries.

Share this with your guests in your guidebook. When they hike Old Man’s Cave, they’re walking into a space that someone called home more than 225 years ago.

The CCC: The Workers Who Built the Trails

In 1933, during the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps established camps in the Hocking Hills region. Two companies did transformative work here:

Company 505, based at Camp Hocking near Conkle’s Hollow, was one of the first CCC companies in Ohio. They built trails, performed erosion control, and constructed the stone masonry that visitors still walk on at Old Man’s Cave, Ash Cave, and other sites.

Company 526, based at Camp Logan, was largely composed of Black workers who were twice as likely to suffer from unemployment during the Depression. By the time their camp closed in 1937, Company 526 had built and paved miles of roadways, improved over 2,000 acres of parkland, and planted 300,000 trees. They improved Cantwell Cliffs, Rock House, and Rockbridge.

The trails your guests hike, the stone steps they climb, the forests they walk through—much of this was built or restored by workers during one of America’s most desperate economic eras. The main cabin of Camp Hocking has been preserved and stands next to Conkle’s Hollow.

The State’s Investment

Ohio began acquiring land for state forests in 1916, initially to test reforestation methods. Acquisition in the Hocking Hills began in 1924 with the explicit goal of repairing land damaged by farming and wildfires. In 1830s, a powder mill was built in the area; in 1840 the Hocking Canal was completed, bringing more settlers and industry. By the time the state started acquiring parkland, the landscape needed healing.

Today, Ohio’s state parks remain free to all visitors—no parking or entry fees. They receive less than one penny of every state tax dollar. The Friends of Hocking Hills State Park, founded in 2003, has provided over $1.7 million in financial and material assistance to the park, including funding the John Glenn Astronomy Park, a premier astronomy education center located in some of the darkest skies in Ohio.

Why This Matters for Your Business

Guests who understand the history beneath their feet have a richer experience. They leave better reviews. They tell more compelling stories to friends. They come back.

Include a “History” section in your guest guidebook. Reference the CCC trails, the Blackhand sandstone, Richard Rowe, the glacial relics in the gorges. Link to HockingHikes.com for trail details and HockingHillsOhio.org for the full regional story.

You’re not just renting a cabin. You’re giving people access to 330 million years of history. That’s a story worth telling.