Winter hike, food, festival among Hocking Hills allures
One place where ice and snow, in reasonable amounts, are welcome is in the Hocking Hills in southeastern Ohio.
The region is beautiful any time of year. But a nice freeze and dusting of snow can turn the cliffs, gorges, rock formations and waterfalls of the Hocking Hills into magnificent and enchanting winter sculptures.
The 54th Annual Hocking Hills Winter Hike will take place on Saturday with the traditional, and beautiful, 6-mile trek from Old Man’s Cave to Ash Cave. The first hikers will hit the trail at 9 a.m., with continuous starts until 11 a.m.
Midway, at Cedar Falls (one of my favorite sights on the trail), hikers will find steaming kettles of hot bean soup. The soup is free, although donations are welcome.
And a free shuttle bus will return hikers from Ash Cave to the parking lot at Old Man’s Cave.
Of course, winter hikers do not live by bean soup alone. Fortunately, for hikers and anyone else who finds themselves with a midwinter hunger in the hills, the region’s annual Comfort Food Cruise is also taking place on three weekends this month.
Each of the 16 restaurants on this year’s cruise will offer a special comfort-food dish to cruise participants today, Saturday and next Sunday and Jan. 26-27. Participants buy a book of 12 cruisestop tickets for $18, with $5 of the cost benefiting local food banks.
Tickets can be shared and are good for one dish at each stop on any day during the event.
Although every dish is touted as “comfort food,” a wide variety of fare is being offered. Dishes include biscuits and gravy at Pearl’s Diner; a homemade pretzel and dip at Nelsonville Emporium; and brioche bread pudding with local maple and Watershed bourbon sauce at the Inn at Cedar Falls.
Participants will also find sweet rolls, pizza, cheeseburger sliders, pulled-pork flatbread tacos and much more among the food-cruise offerings.
Tickets are available at the Hocking Hills Regional Welcome Center, which will also have cinnamon rolls and a special souvenir available on cruise days. Tickets and a full list of participating restaurants and their offerings are also available at www. Explorehockinghills. com.
And winter-hike visitors looking to make a full day of their winter’s sojourn to the hills (or nonhikers looking for a fun, wintry day trip) can also stop by downtown Logan for the Frozen Festival, also on Saturday.
The festival will include more than two-dozen large ice sculptures, ice-carving demonstrations, live music, “ice corn hole” and local arts and crafts. Local food trucks and restaurants will have food available, and visitors can also take advantage of $1 tastings from Hocking Hills Winery, craft brewer Brewery 33 and Hocking Hills Moonshine distillery.
For more information about winter activities in the Hocking Hills, call 1-800-4625464 or visit www. Explorehockinghills.
Steve Stephens is the Dispatch travel writer. Email him at sstephens @dispatch.com or follow him on Twitter @Stevestephens.