The Hocking Hills keeps a full calendar all year — glass pumpkins and county fairs in the autumn, a six-mile winter hike in January, Bigfoot in August.
Bear Run sits about twelve minutes from downtown Logan, so most of this is an easy evening out and back. Dates were correct when this page was last updated — festivals do move, so it is worth a quick check before you set out.
Live acoustic from 4 to 7 PM in the beer garden on College Prospect Drive — classic rock and country favorites. Free. House-brewed beer, a fire pit, rotating food trucks and a playground; dogs welcome outdoors.
A day given over to mead, with new meads, ciders and beers released alongside vendors and food. Free to attend. Two sets of live music: Aubrey Meade from 1 to 4 PM, then Evan McCune from 4 to 7 PM.
A weekend of medieval pageantry just outside Logan — combat demonstrations, artisans, and period music and food.
The largest Corvette show in Ohio fills historic downtown Lancaster for the day — hundreds of cars, music, food, and free admission for spectators.
11 AM to about 4 PM at Ash Cave — drumming, dancing and a drum healing session around 3:30. Bring a chair or blanket, snacks and your own drum. Family friendly, no alcohol; a hat goes round for the permit.
The county's own fair at the fairgrounds in Logan — livestock shows, rides, grandstand events and proper fair food. The closest of the big annual events, about twelve minutes away.
Thousands of hand-blown glass pumpkins fill the studio at Laurelville, with live demonstrations and the release of the Pumpkin of the Year. A VIP preview night runs the Thursday before. Rated third on USA Today's top fall festivals two years running.
The 52nd annual show, at the Hocking Hills State Park Lodge on SR 664 — regional artists and makers showing and selling pottery, woodwork, textiles and painting. 10 AM to 6 PM Saturday, 10 AM to 4 PM Sunday.
A newer festival on Nelsonville Public Square, started by Ohio cryptid researchers who wanted an event closer to the heart of the Hocking Hills.
German-style beers, seasonal food and live music in the brewery's beer garden on College Prospect Drive. Free.
Two days on the streets of Zaleski, ending each night at the haunted Moonville Tunnel — a haunted trail, wagon rides out to the Ingham Station ghost town, storytelling, roaming spooks, a costume contest, craft and food vendors, and a paranormal investigation demonstration to close. Grown from one night to two. About forty minutes away.
A guided hike along the trail named for Emma 'Grandma' Gatewood, the Ohio grandmother who thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail at 67. Timed for peak color.
A full week at the fairgrounds in Lancaster, and one of the last county fairs of the Ohio season.
Ohio's oldest and largest harvest festival, always the third Wednesday to Saturday of October. Giant pumpkins, seven parades, and free to attend.
Trick-or-treating, a costume contest, a scavenger hunt and a treat walk around Worthington Park in downtown Logan, 6 to 8 PM. Free. The exact evening is set closer to the time.
Logan's hometown Christmas parade, free to watch and thoroughly family friendly. It sets off from the Hocking County Fairgrounds at 12 noon and runs through to the West Hunter Street and State Route 664 intersection. Santa rides it, and the shops and town square are in full holiday dress.
Hot cider, live glassblowing demonstrations and one-of-a-kind glass gifts at the Laurelville studio. Bring a new, unwrapped toy worth $30 or more for their toy drive and they will give you a free Jack Pine glass ornament. Santa is there Saturday and Sunday, with Storytime with Santa at 2 PM on the Saturday. Open 10 AM to 7 PM Friday and Saturday, 10 AM to 5 PM Sunday.
5 to 7 PM, and free. A luminary-lit trail leads in to Ohio's largest recess cave for carolers, a crackling campfire, hot cocoa and a visit with Santa. One of the loveliest evenings in the Hills — and all of it outdoors, so wrap up.
A fully decorated, heated train out of Nelsonville with a visit from Santa for every child — a tradition more than forty years old. Thursday to Sunday from 28 November through 20 December, with 11 AM and 2 PM departures at weekends and a 6 PM evening run on selected days. They sell out, so book early.
Live music, a DJ, local vendors, carriage rides, Polar Express train rides and the ball drop at midnight. The railway also runs a New Year's Eve Fireworks Express.
Dates change. The Hocking Hills Welcome Center on (740) 385-9706 keeps the full, current calendar — worth a call before you travel. Last checked 21 August 2026.
Where a festival has published its 2027 date we give it in full. Where it has not, we show the window it has kept for years, marked "expected" — near enough to book around, but worth confirming first.
The region's signature winter event, running since the 1960s — some 5,600 hikers last January. Assemble at the state park campground any time between 9 and 11 AM. Small groups are led on an interpretive walk as far as the Upper Falls, then you finish the six miles at your own pace. Free, as are the activities before and after; donations are welcome for the refreshments and the ride back. Commemorative patches and hiking-stick medallions are on sale.
Free naturalist-led hikes in Hocking Hills State Park, run every weekday for a week in late April as the spring ephemerals appear — trillium, hepatica and Dutchman's breeches. Various trailheads, moderate to difficult. The park confirms the week in early spring.
The spring counterpart to the pumpkin festival — hand-blown glass garden art, live demonstrations, artisan vendors, music and food trucks.
Sixty-plus years running at the Fairfield County Fairgrounds — classic cars, a large swap meet and the Old Car Club's vintage gas station. First weekend of June.
Confirmed by the festival — three days, Thursday to Saturday. Downtown Logan celebrates the washboard as a real musical instrument — jazz, jug band and zydeco — with dozens of musicians playing free all weekend. Logan is home to the last washboard factory in the country.
A long-running independent music festival at the Snow Fork Event Center, drawing national names to a wooded site about half an hour away.
Three acres of gardens, ponds and sculpture at Bishop Educational Gardens in Rockbridge, always the second full weekend of July. Free to enter, with more than seventy artists and makers, plant sales, OSU Master Gardeners on hand, and a Viking village for children. Running since 1992.
Ten days of music and art across downtown Lancaster, opening with the Artwalk. The Lancaster Festival Orchestra under Gary Sheldon has won the American Prize for conducting and orchestral performance, and most events are free. About half an hour north.
Free, over two days at the Vinton County Fairgrounds in McArthur — speakers, vendors, live music, a howling contest and a Squatchiest Beard competition. A straight run south on SR 93.
Booked separately alongside the festival. A naturalist leads one group into Vinton County Park District land; a folklorist leads another into Bear Hollow in the Zaleski State Forest with ghost and Bigfoot stories, ending at the haunted Moonville Tunnel.
These run regardless of when you visit, and most of them are free.
Rangers lead guided walks, evening talks, owl prowls after dark and seasonal hikes — wildflowers, gorge geology, local history — plus beginner archery and raptor presentations. Free. Ask at the state park visitor center or call (740) 279-1177.
Free programs on clear Friday and Saturday nights, early March to late November, starting about half an hour after sunset. Volunteers work a 28-inch telescope. A free parking pass is required in advance — capacity is seventy cars.
Hocking Hills Winery has live music every weekend on the patio; Brewery 33 runs live music and food trucks through the warmer months. Both post line-ups on Facebook a week or two ahead.
Guided night hunts at the haunted Moonville Tunnel — a walk along the old rail trail with ghost stories, then ghost hunting inside the tunnel. The tunnel is on public land off Hope-Moonville Road and free to visit in daylight.
Local outfitters run guided hikes, and Hocking State Forest has a dedicated climbing and rappelling area with guide services available.
Produce, baked goods and local makers in the courthouse parking lot on Main Street in Logan, 9 AM to noon.
Looking for trails, waterfalls and the rest of the area? The Things to Do page covers what is close to the cabins day to day.
Fall color and festival weekends go first, and the holiday dates not long after. Check live availability and reserve securely.
