Photos of Long Hollow

On February 19, 2017, I visited one of my favorite "Hidden Hollows of Hocking Hills."  Long Hollow is located across the road from the Rock Climbing and Rappelling area.  It is a side trail in the Hocking State Forest bridle trail system.  Follow the white blazes at the end of the parking lot.  It is about a half mile long.  Yes, the horse travel can make the trail muddy and difficult for hikers, but it is definitely worth it.  Below are the highlights of three areas: The double fall at the end of the hollow, 21 Horse Cave (with a side trail off of the side trail leading to it), and a side hollow not accessible by horse.

The first good view of the twin falls of Long Hollow.  Kind of.  The right fall is not visible.  To the left of the tree in the center, just to the right of the next tree is a white smudge.  That is the left fall. The falls have been audible for five minutes by this time but have only offered of smaller, more obstructed views. There are several other slump blocks and hills similar to the ones in the foreground of the photo.  The stream from the falls winds between these and they and the trees on them keep the falls hidden until you are practically underneath them.

A full-length view of the left fall.

The right fall has significantly less flow.  Half of the drop is one fall landing on the shelf above the round rock(right, center).  After that, flows down near-vertical rock and three foot falls alternate.  If you climb the fall to the right of the area shown you can get behind the falls and not get wet unless it is at peak flow.

This the view of the left fall while standing between the falls under the overhang, about halfway up.  In the center of the photo where it looks like the ground (and the rocks on them) and the top of the cliff meet (an optical illusion/bad photography) is about where the recess cave in the pic below is found.

I am all for hiking off the trail and climbing waterfalls, but I draw the line at building fires in recess caves - especially where the roof is only five feet above the ground and possibly weakened by the heat.

A view of the left fall from outside the recess cave.

Chapel Cave or 21 Horse Cave depending on your source.  The last time I was here there was evidence that at least 21 horses had recently visited, so that is the name I am leaning toward using.  This time the cave had been recently cleaned.

Looking at the back of the cave.  The crack in the middle can be seen from the outside behind the cave.

Standing inside 21 Horse Cave and looking out.

This is the back of 21 Horse Cave.  The crack seen inside the cave is visible, but is blocked in this photo by those stupid trees.  Joking.  On the left you can see a group of 40-50 small hemlocks.  There are a couple of these hemlock nurseries in this area.

This is the low-flow No Horse Hollow, so named because, when you are walking from the parking lot there is a sign on the left (about half-way to the double falls at the end) that says, "No horses beyond this point."

Looking to the left of the waterfall.  Notice how the ground slopes down towards the cliff base.  This is one of the places where I have found huge slabs of ice in 65 degree weather in April.  It's like a giant Yeti cooler.  A microclimate if you are one of them fancy-talkers.

An ancient Native American stone carving.  Or maybe vandalism by a stoned teenager.