Hocking Hills State Park

A couple weeks ago, we decided to take a weekend trip to Columbus, Ohio for my son’s 11th birthday. Our whole trip started because we just HAD to visit the Columbus Zoo after watching Secrets of the Zoo on Disney+. So, since I didn’t just want to travel 5 ½ hours to go to a zoo, I looked for other things we could do while we were there. Recently, my family has gotten really into hiking, so I looked for somewhere we could go. That’s when I found Hocking Hills. I had heard of this state park, but never visited. After reading some reviews, I was pumped. It’s about an hour away from Columbus, but I figured we’d spend a couple hours there and make a day of it.

We drove out to Hocking Hills State Park and let me tell you, that last bit of the drive there is no joke. I’m talking a 2-lane road with twists, turns, and hills. Personally, I had a blast driving, but my husband was nervous so...just be aware. It’s not right off the highway.

But Oh. My. Gosh! When we got to the parking lot (at Old Man’s Cave Visitor Center), there were cars everywhere! People were parked along the road, all over the place, in the grass. It was insane. I was not excited. I did not drive an hour to hike with 3,000 other people. But since we had driven so far, I was determined to make the best of it and we luckily found a spot right up by the Visitor’s Center. Someone was leaving, just as we pulled around.

Due to Covid, we decided to wear our masks. However, I will tell you that almost no one else did. Luckily, once we got on the trail, people were mostly spread out. The further and further we got into the trail, the fewer people there actually were.

There are so many beautiful sights along this trail. And a couple different trail options to take.

First, note that (at least at the current moment) these trails are meant to be one way.

We started out taking the Upper Falls Loop Trail where we saw the Upper Falls.

Then, we quickly diverted to the Grandma Gatewood (Buckeye) Trail, which took us to the bottom of the Falls and on to Devil’s Bathtub.

We then continued on and chose to keep going toward the Lower Falls instead of turning toward Old Man’s Cave.

I honestly had the most fun at the Lower Falls. We spent so much time here. My son and I definitely broke the rules and went off trail. But it was just so pretty. We couldn’t resist. We walked behind the falls. And we climbed a rock. Which gave us some amazing pictures.

Then we took the Lower Access Trail (which had SO many stairs) up to the Gorge Exit Trail.

At this point, we’re like, how do we get to Old Man’s Cave? I don’t know if we just couldn’t see where to go or what, but we ended up going the wrong way on the trail to backtrack to Old Man’s Cave once we saw the Visitor’s Center. This was such a fun place to explore.

 

Seriously, this whole place was very interesting and we had a ton of fun exploring it! Ideally, there would have been fewer people there, but we did somehow end up here on the first beautiful day of the entire year with clear skies in the low 70s. Plus, it was a Saturday.

There were way more trails to explore, but we were starting to get tired, so we headed back to the car.

We did end up driving over to Cedar Falls. And it was pretty. And we thought it was worth the visit. But be aware that the entire trail to this is stairs. Seriously, straight down. Look at the falls. Straight back up. It was insane. But we loved it!

Overall, I walked 14,816 steps that day. We were exhausted, but we enjoyed every second of it.

A Camping Weekend At Shawnee National Forest (March)

My family needed a weekend away! And now that it's March, the weather is finally starting to give us a bit of a break from the constantly freezing temperatures. Plus, we wanted to try our hand at car camping to see if it was something we'd be interested in and thought a trip only 4 hours from our house would be the perfect way to try it out.

So, here's how we spent our weekend:
My husband took a half day on Friday so that we could head down and get there before dark. At around noon, we loaded up the car and drove to Pharoah's Campground. There are only 12 campsites ($10/night) here and it's first come, first serve so we had to stop here first to see if there were any spots available. While the weather was starting to get warmer, it was still a little chilly, so we were hoping it wouldn't be too busy. We were able to secure ourselves a spot, unloaded a couple things, and then headed off for our first "hike".

Sunset hike around the Garden of the Gods Observation Trail:
This trail is technically only about 0.5 mile, but my son is a climber and it was definitely longer than that. We made sure to take our time and take in the beautiful sights you get at sunset. It was a great start to our trip and I highly recommend doing this "trail" if you're visiting the area. It's incredibly easy. Just be careful if you climb out on the rocks. It's about a half mile walk to get to the trailhead from the campsite.

For dinner, we made a fire and cooked some hot dogs. As a side, we made a pasta side on our stove. And of course, we had to have s'mores for dessert. Easy peasy!

We then cleaned everything up from dinner, inflated our car mattress, and got ourselves ready for bed.

Saturday morning, we made pancakes and sausage for breakfast with some coffee to give us that boost we would need for the many hikes we had planned for the day.

Then we headed out for our first hike. Or so we thought...

We had wanted to see Cave in Rock, but unfortunately, it was flooded.

So, we headed to Rim Rock after taking in the views of the Ohio River.

Rim Rock:
On AllTrails, it says it's 1.7 miles, but we didn't do the whole thing. Instead, we headed up the trail in the middle, took the steep downhill off to the left, and then took the stairs into the cavern. We explored there for a while (which is obviously the highlight of the trail) and then headed back up the stairs and continued the trail around back to the parking lot. In total, it was probably about a mile, but maybe more with our exploring. I highly recommend this trail! It was so much fun exploring. Overall, I would say it was fairly easy.

After we finished there, we headed back towards camp. We stopped at the Outpost to pick up some firewood. While we were there, we looked around and ended up buying a postcard and a coffee mug as souvenirs. There were also a few food options in case you forgot something and other souvenir options like t-shirts and sweatshirts and shot glasses. It's a cute little store that's worth a stop if you're in the area. Plus, I didn't feel like their prices were outrageous.

Across the street from the Outpost is the Shawnee Bigfoot so of course we had to stop for a picture! There are a couple parking spots just for this photo op, so you don't have to cross the busy street on foot.

Then, we headed back to camp to make some lunch (sandwiches, chips, and apples). It wasn't anything exciting. Just enough to fuel us up for our next hike.

On our way back out of the Garden of the Gods, we saw an area where you could pull off to the side. Across the street from there was a cool rock feature that you could climb inside of. So, we stopped. It was just a fun little 15 minute detour, but I feel like it's worth noting, just to say that you don't even have to go on a hike to see some of these beautiful rocks.

We then continued on our way to Stone Face.

Stone Face:
If you're using Google Maps to get you here, it only takes you most of the way. Continue until you see a sign for it. Then turn. There is a gravel road that takes you a couple miles to the tiniest little parking area. From there, take the trail. The trail itself isn't too long. I believe it actually keeps going past the actual Stone Face, but I wasn't expecting the trail to be as strenuous as it was, so we just turned back around after we got there and went back. This trail is listed as easy on AllTrails and it is NOT! Don't listen to the lies these people have told you. Read the reviews. It's rough. And at one point, we were literally climbing. But it's beautiful. And there are some pretty great views.

Needless to say, I was extremely tired after that hike, so we decided to forego any additional hikes that day and just head back to camp. We were done a little earlier than we had originally anticipated, so we filled our time by reading and playing cards.

For dinner, we made campfire dip, which we ate with fritos. It's cream cheese, shredded cheese, taco meat, and chili beans. It was so good. Plus, this day was National Oreo Day so we had brought a package along to indulge in for dessert.

The rest of our night was spent hanging out by the fire, just talking and laughing and enjoy each others company.

The next morning, we made scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, and coffee for breakfast. This is honestly, our traditional Sunday breakfast anyway, so we decided not to break from tradition. Plus, this is a super easy breakfast and I'm all about those simple meals while camping.

We packed everything up and made sure we left our campsite cleaner than we left it. Then, we headed out to our first hike, Burden Falls.

Burden Falls:
Getting here was a bit of an adventure. We seriously traveled MILES on a gravel road. I don't know why I kept picking these "middle of nowhere" hikes. But that's where we were. The trail isn't overly marked (as some people have pointed out in reviews on AllTrails) but there were a couple ties on trees that led us to believe we were on the right path. We started by taking the path to the left. It led us through the forest, then down a very steep hill, and then along the stream until we reached the waterfall. Now, technically, I don't think the trail leads all the way up to the waterfall, but that didn't stop us! When you get close, you'll see a large rock (I mean, huge rock). Go to the left of it, and all of a sudden, it will open up to the bottom of the falls. We climbed all over the rocks to get fun pictures. On our way back, we didn't really know which way to go and we had just seen a couple descend from some rocks, so we took that way. I think it's more of an unofficial trail, but enough people had taken that way, that it was obviously a trail. We were literally climbing rocks, but we had so much fun! It was hard, but so worth it. Then, when you get to the top, you'll see the top set of falls, which are small, but beautiful in their own right. Overall, a great trail. Probably a moderate.

I felt invigorated after that trail, so we headed off for one more. This one was a little far if you're staying in the Garden of the Gods area, but it was on our way home. We went to Big Rocky Hollow Trail. Or at least that's what it's called on AllTrails. Although, if you let Google guide you, you will end up in the wrong area. Navigate to the Ferne Clyffe Waterfall Trail. This is a super popular trail, though, and we were lucky to find a parking space.

At this point, we were starting to get hungry for lunch, so we made ourselves some sandwiches and ate at a picnic table right by our car.

Then, we were off again.

Big Rocky Hollow Trail:
This trail is very short: less than 3/4 of a mile out and back. It's very wide, allowing for lots of people to travel on it. I would even say it's handicap accessible. But don't take my word for it. That's just how flat and easy this trail is. It does become even more scenic as you near the waterfall at the end. There are plenty of places to explore and (dare I say) go off trail. The waterfall at the end was only a mild trickle while we were there, but still a fun little hike nonetheless.

At this point, it was starting to get warm, we still had a 3 1/2 hour drive home, and we were all a little tired, so we loaded up the car, and made our way back. We had a great trip and I hope that our experience can help you plan your next trip to Southern Illinois to visit the Shawnee National Forest.

San Diego Photo Spots

While we were in San Diego, we visited a couple places just to take pictures. And while most of our choices turned out to be amazing, there were a couple that were total fails. Read all about them.

Sunset Cliffs
This is seriously an amazing location. Even if you’re not into taking pictures, you should still come here just to watch the sunset. I definitely suggest walking down further from the road a little bit to really get the cliffs in your pictures. That being said, use your brain and be careful!
When we got there, my husband just let us out and had to drive around for a little bit to find a parking spot. So, if you’re planning to go here, leave yourself plenty of time to park before sunset.

Greetings from San Diego postcard mural in North Park
located outside the Belching Beaver brewery
This is such a cute mural to pose in front of. Especially as a tourist! There were even other people taking pictures while we were there that took our picture for us.

You are Radiant! Mural in North Park
outside the Artelexia store
This one isn’t really my favorite because it’s difficult to find parking and when the sun isn’t just right, it casts a lot of shadows.

Spruce Street Suspension Bridge
This was one of our favorites. The bridge itself is pretty, but it’s just such a fun little walk. And while my son was slightly terrified at first, because some people walk heavy so it swayed at first, he eventually loved it! It is located in a residential area so it’s pretty easy to find parking, just be aware that you are by people’s houses so be courteous.
The views from the bridge itself aren’t really anything special, but we loved it all the same.

Favorite Color Mural in La Jolla
7596 Eads Avenue
This is just a fun little mural full of colors. There was a truck parked right next to it so it was a little difficult to see at first, but we made it work.

One Pointed Attention Mural in La Jolla
7835 Ivanhoe Ave
This mural was inspired by molecular structure and scientific drawings.
It was a little different, but we still enjoyed taking pictures.

Fails:
Secret Swings in La Jolla
While we were there, the swings were not. We couldn’t find them at all. And trust me, we did try. There is an okay view near where people say they are, though.

Scripps Pier in La Jolla
We couldn’t find anywhere to park after driving around for almost 20 minutes so we never even got a picture here.

If you have any other awesome suggestions for photo places near San Diego, leave them in the comments for us to try out the next time we visit.

A Day In Southern Illinois

Our last stop before we headed back home on our 2 week road trip was in Southern Illinois. I use that term because we kind of travelled all over the place in our 24 hours there.

Our first stop upon returning to Illinois was the Garden of the Gods. We decided to take the half mile observation trail. It was a very short hike, if you even want to use that term. To be honest, it was more of just a walk for me. My son, on the other hand was climbing all over the place. He was climbing every rock he could get his hands on. Clearly, we were very cautious and I held my son’s hand when necessary because in this area, you are very high up and every year, people die from accidents on these rocks. The views are just stunning from here. And we had so much fun finding the camel and monkey rock formations. Even though the main path is only a half mile, we spent an hour here. Partially because we spent a lot of time off the main path on the large rocks and partially because we took the time to sit and embrace the beauty of this place. There were plenty of people that stayed much longer than we did. It didn’t feel crowded at all, but we visited at noon on a Wednesday.

Owen’s Notes: “I really liked that I got to climb around a bunch. There were so many rocks that I got to climb up, down, and over to. There were also so many sights to see like the camel and the monkey.”

We stayed in the Best Western in Marion for the night. The biggest reason I chose this hotel was because we had enough points to stay here for free. It was clean and nice enough. It was nothing extravagant, but it was exactly what we needed. They had a pool and a hot tub, which we did swim at. It was a perfect way to end our trip. They also had free wifi, free breakfast, a mini fridge, and a microwave. Plus, the hotel was right next to the highway so it was a great location for us.

The next morning, we drove over to the Rolling Oak Alpaca Ranch. I had made a reservation for a tour online in advance. It cost $10 per person. Our tour started at 9:30am and lasted about an hour. We were able to hang out with the alpacas and feed them. We also met a couple goats. It was great to learn all about the alpacas. Plus, since our tour was just myself and my son, we could ask any questions we wanted and take as many pictures as we wanted. Then, we learned all about how yarn is made. I just love the couple that owns this farm. They have such positive attitudes and were such a pleasure to be around. We truly had a blast and it was just the perfect ending to a perfect trip.

Owen’s Notes: “I really really liked all of the alpacas. I also liked that I got to see goats. My favorite alpaca was Little Num. I got to hug her.”

There are so many things to do in southern Illinois. We definitely could have spent more than a day here, but alas, we had to head home.