May 2023
Ohio surprised me. I thought it would be a drive through state but I was wrong. I think Ohioans have intentionally undersold their state to keep out the tourists. It is lovely with cute towns and fantastic hiking in rainforest like conditions. They even have skiing though I would certainly not make it a winter destination. There are a lot of state parks, all free to enter (rare and awesome) and the state campgrounds are clean, inexpensive, plentiful, the check-in staffed until 10pm and those where I stayed had an ice cream counter with multiple flavors of Hershey’s ice cream! This should be customary at every state campground in the country. The terrain and beauty do vary and the northeast portion with all its rocks, rolling green hills and flowers, is where you want to be. Ohio does small towns better than cities. Cleveland and Cincinnati (the only two larger cities I visited) were okay but nothing special, but the small towns and the natural beauty with free state parks rival many of the other states. People were generally polite but not as friendly as some other places. They may have thought I was homeless as I was in flip flops (it was raining), convertible hiking pants and carrying a camelback and when I slipped and fell on some mossy bricks in Lancaster, no one helped. I did get up quickly and limped the rest of the way to the coffee shop, falling saved my ankle from a mighty bad twist. Ohio is also very white and seemingly religious (including an Amish population). A state worker tried to make me feel better when I could not land a campground one night that it must be God’s will. I found it humorous, but so much for separation of church and state.
CAYAHOGA VALLEY NATIONAL PARK. The hiking here was beautiful. I did the Pine Grove Trail and Ledges Loop trails. The rock formations are awesome and it was not very crowded. The Brandywine loop has a nice waterfall that would have been more enjoyable had I not just been to Niagara Falls.
LANCASTER. A cute town and looked like a good spot to hang your head for the night with lots of restaurants, cafes, and shopping.
GRANVILLE. Another lovely town so long as you don’t walk on the sidewalk where I fell. I stopped at Station bakery and coffee shop, one of the many coffee shops in town.
MOHICAN STATE PARK. Camped here one night and would have hiked were it not raining, a lot. Nice campground and close to town if you get hungry.
CANTWELL CLIFFS AT HOCKING HILLS STATE PARK. I saw a small sign on my way to the main parking lot at Hocking Hills and it had me at cliffs so I ventured off on this side trip. Beautiful area with two one mile loops and fewer people as not quite as accessible as the main part of the park.
HOCKING HILLS STATE PARK. I think the entire state was here the Saturday I showed up to hike Old Man’s Cave trail. It is a must see if in the area but if a weekend, go early! I decided to do a longer loop and about 3 miles in the crowds thinned out. It had just rained so there was a lot of mud which made it kind of fun.
PAINT CREEK STATE PARK CAMPGROUND. Less picturesque than other parts of the state, but a very nice campground with a lot of sites and well spread out.
CINCINNATI. I spent the day hear, having coffee and exploring different neighborhoods. They need to work on the commercial districts to expand to more than a few retail establishments in each. I waited in line for 25 minutes to get a mediocre coffee and a muffin that was so sweet I could not eat more than two bites even though I was really hungry. There are some nice parks and with the hills there is some promise. The museum was nice and they have no entry fee and near the entrance is a fabulous large painting by Kehinde Wiley which alone is worth the trip.