Hocking Hills State Park

The land which comprises Hocking Hills is part of the Allegheny Plateau, a large plateau spanning from central New York to the north, through Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, to West Virginia to the south. Over 330 million years ago, the Hocking Hills region was covered by the Atlantic Ocean, depositing the sand and gravel which eventually formed the Blackhand sandstone the area is known for, named after a black hand print petroglyph left by American Indians on a cliff face near what is now Newark, Ohio.

After a time the ocean receded, and millions of years of erosion from streams and groundwater cut through the soft middle layer of sandstone, resulting in the iconic rock formations and natural features the region is known for today. The residual moist climate allows many tree and plant species which require damp environments to grow in this region, such as hemlocks and Canadian yews, which are otherwise not found in Ohio.

AirBnb 15 min south of Chillicothe.