Every place we send guests — trails, food, adventure and wet-weather ideas — with honest drive times from the cabin door.
You could fill an entire weekend and never start the car.
Two stocked ponds on the property — one shared by the cabins, and one that belongs to Red Oak alone. Bring a rod and lose an afternoon by the water.
Every cabin has one. There's no better way to end a day of hiking than steam and stars.
Fire pits and rings for s'mores, stories and the kind of dark skies the city forgot.
Far from the light of town, the night sky here puts on a show all its own.
Boch Hollow starts about two miles up the road. The headline gorges are a drive rather than a walk — most of them half an hour — so it pays to pick one a day and go early rather than chase three.
Our nearest wild place: 607 acres and seven miles of trail. Corkscrew Falls sits inside a permit-only section, so reserve a place before you come.
Ohio's largest natural bridge — over a hundred feet long, arching fifty feet above the ravine floor.
At 5,470 acres, the largest nature preserve in the state. Hemlock ravines and sandstone cliffs, with a fraction of the foot traffic of the main park.
Tall cliffs and narrow rock passages at the north end of the park — one of the quieter headline sites, and among the closest to us.
The heaviest flow of water in the Hocking Hills, at the end of a short and very pretty walk.
The gorge loop everyone comes for — waterfalls, recess caves and stone bridges end to end. It's a half-hour drive from the cabins, so leave early and let the crowds arrive behind you.
The only true cave corridor in Ohio, cut into the cliff face partway up.
A recess cave three hundred feet wide with a waterfall over a hundred feet tall, on a loop of about a mile and a half.
Ohio's only national forest — more than 250,000 acres, beginning where the Hocking Hills leave off.
The largest recess cave in the state, on a short paved path that suits every pair of legs.
An easy trail along the gorge floor, or the rim trail above it for the long views. They are not the same walk — choose deliberately.
Eighty feet of steps, and a full circle of forest at the top.
Almost everything is in or around Logan, about fifteen minutes away. Stock the cabin kitchen on the way in and you'll only need a handful of these.
The nearest fuel and the nearest food, out on SR 93 toward Logan — and far more than a gas station. A full meat counter with hand-cut steaks, deli meats and cheeses, sandwiches made to order and hot food to take away. The handiest stop for provisions on your way in. Closed Sundays.
Coffee, cold brew, smoothies, wraps and pastries out of a restored Airstream beside Lake Logan, with a rooftop deck and a fire pit. The only drive-through coffee in the Hills, and dogs are welcome.
The breakfast counter in downtown Logan, open from six in the morning. Cheap, good, and full of locals.
Downtown Logan, and once named the best pizza in Ohio by both TripAdvisor and USA Today. Gluten-free crust available. They don't deliver up to the cabins, but they will meet you where Bear Run Road joins SR 93.
Brisket, ribs, pulled pork and corn muffins — and the most-reviewed restaurant in the county.
Family Mexican at the Hocking Mall. Generous plates, quick service, easy prices, open until ten every night — the answer on an evening when nobody wants to cook.
Italian with a Spaghetti Western streak — pasta, lasagna, ravioli and seafood, a wall of wine and a patio.
An Amish-run market and deli on SR 664, and the best lunch stop on the way to the trails. Sandwiches built at the counter, Holmes County meats and cheeses, fresh-cut meat. Behind the deli it's a proper country store — bulk spices and baking supplies, jams, trail mixes, a bakery case and a good gluten-free range. Closed Sundays.
Hocking County's first moonshine distillery, in downtown Logan. The tour is free — watch it being made and hear the prohibition history — and samples cost a little.
Tastings without a reservation, then a glass by the fire or out on the covered patio. Live music every weekend, plus pizza and charcuterie. Closed Tuesdays.
House-brewed beer and a beer garden with a fire pit, rotating food trucks and live music. Playground and lawn games; dogs and children both welcome.
Three tables in these hills are worth planning a whole evening around. All three want a reservation, and two of them want it well ahead.
Elevated American plates in downtown Logan, with a winery, brewery and distillery on the same site. The area's standout for a dinner out. Closed Tuesdays.
Six courses in the dim dining room of a Scottish inn set on 140 acres at Rockbridge, and the most theatrical meal in the Hills. Seated at 6:30 and running about two hours; on many Saturdays a bagpiper in full kilt walks the guests in. $85 a head, or $95 on Saturdays for the chef's tasting built around rack of lamb. Adults only, seating is limited, and they want at least 72 hours' notice.
Dinner by candlelight in the 1840s log cabins at the Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls — contemporary American, and the special-occasion table around here. Reservations required.
Water, height, speed, glass and steam engines. Several of these need booking ahead, particularly in autumn.
Kayaks, paddleboards and pontoon boats to rent at the marina, and some of the best fishing in Ohio.
The last washboard factory in the country, still running its 1800s equipment. Guided tours, a museum and gift shop, and the world's largest washboard out front.
The restored theater on East Main Street in downtown Logan, reopened in 2026 — classic films and community screenings.
Free, and inside the Welcome Center on SR 664, so you can see it while you're there anyway. Paul Johnson's collection of 3,479 pencil sharpeners — no two the same — is the largest in the country.
Ohio's first zipline course, at Rockbridge — a guided treetop tour above cliffs and caves, plus the SuperZip, which launches two riders from an 85-foot tower at up to fifty miles an hour and is rated among the top ten ziplines in the world. There's a gentler course for children.
Canoe and kayak trips on the Hocking River, five miles or seven. The season runs April to mid-October.
Watch the glassblowers work, or book in and make a piece of your own.
Dark-sky stargazing, telescopes and public programmes. A free parking pass has to be booked in advance at registration.jgap.org.
Historic train rides out of Nelsonville, weekends from May through October, including the fall foliage runs.
A paved rail trail running nineteen miles from Nelsonville to Athens along the old canal and railbed. Flat, shaded and car-free — the easiest cycling in the region. Bring bikes; there's no rental at the trailhead.
Guided trail rides from a small family farm at South Bloomingville. The horses are rescues, rehabilitated and retrained on the farm, and the guides will tell you where each one came from. One- and two-hour rides suit people who have never sat on a horse; the longer rides reach Crystal Falls, Red Rock and Airplane Rock. Thursday to Sunday, ages ten and up, reservations essential — no walk-ins.
Ninety-nine acres set aside for rock climbing and rappelling, a mile east of Conkle's Hollow.
The four places that reliably win an afternoon with younger guests.
Escape rooms on South Spring Street in downtown Logan — lock-ins, puzzles and a countdown clock. Best with a group of four to six.
In Bremen, and the highest-rated attraction in the region — swim or paint with Asian small-clawed otters in a heated indoor pool, or meet the sloths, capybaras and foxes.
Feed and brush goats, alpacas, donkeys and llamas, then sift for gemstones and fossils at the mining sluice.
Nineteen species, from rabbits and miniature donkeys up to camels, emus and a zedonk — half zebra, half donkey.
Over a hundred dealers under one roof on SR 664, just up from the Welcome Center — furniture, glassware, tools, records and a great deal of pleasant clutter.
A large flea market in Rockbridge — indoor and outdoor vendors in a big barn, with crafts, antiques, produce and food stalls.
The factory outlet on East Canal Street in Nelsonville. Rocky have made boots there since 1932.
The waterfalls are never better than the morning after a storm. But wet sandstone is slick and the gorge stairs are unforgiving, so a wet day is worth planning around rather than pushing through.
The hot tub is genuinely better in the rain — hot water, cool air and the woods to yourself. Covered porches keep the rocking chairs dry, and every cabin has Spectrum TV and free WiFi at up to 500 Mbps for the afternoon nobody wants to move. Red Oak adds a washer and dryer.
The otters at Paws & Claws, the washboard factory tour, the Pencil Sharpener Museum, the Logan Theater, the moonshine distillery, the escape rooms and the antique mall — all of them indoors, and all about fifteen minutes away.
Ash Cave and Cedar Falls are at their most impressive just after heavy rain, and both are short walks on good surfaces. Give the gorge stairs an hour to drain first.
There's something happening in the Hills most weekends of the year, indoors as often as out. See the festivals & events calendar.
The nearest town of any size — groceries, fuel, pharmacy and most of the restaurants above.
The closest airport, and an easy drive south on US 33.
Drive times are approximate and assume good conditions. In winter, four-wheel or all-wheel drive is recommended on the roads into the property. Opening hours and prices change — it's worth a phone call before a long drive, particularly on a Sunday or a Tuesday, when several of these are closed.
Hike the gorges by day, come home to your own cabin, hot tub and fire by night.
