Whispering Cave HikeTrailhead Elevation: 986 ft.
Distance: 1.00 mi. (1.71mi on Garmin)Elevation Gain: 265 ft.
Start Time: 1:58pm
End Time: 3:09pm
This was a great family hike for us. We made it to the park to do lunch at the Lodge Cafe and then were looking to get outside to explore. It was more hot and muggy than we would have liked but we decided to give this a go. We followed what was a fairly obviously walkway downhill and east from the Lodge which was a connector to the Whispering Cave to Old Man's Cave trail. There was a nice trail staircase to take us down the hill. We had Ben, Noah and Anya as littles to aid along the hike. All of us adults took turns helping them along and holding hands. The first bit of the trail was a nice forest trail. It then headed down a rocky-like staircase area to a small overhang area with a nearly dried up waterfall. This led to a section where we were along the base of a cliff area. The trail rounded a corner in here and then a tenth of a mile later it ended at Whispering Cave which was an even larger overhanging cliff area with some waterfall going. The Hocking Hills area had been dry lately and so the waterfalls were not flowing very heavy. Anya was a great hiker the whole time and on the hike out was leading the way and full of energy. Ben also hiked most of it and by the end even dropped my hand and was moving over some difficult trail on his own. It was fun to see them take up the adventuring. The heat was real and I could see it affecting everyone which meant the hiking would be brief today. We all carried water for this hike to help out. As our first hike in Hocking Hills this was enjoyable and a nice introduction.
