Campground · Hocking Hills State Park
A primitive tent base between Cedar Falls and Ash Cave.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Hocking Hills Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Hocking Hills State Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this area
Ash Cave Fire Tower“You're nearing the parking area for Ash Cave Fire Tower, an eighty-foot fire lookout built in nineteen thirty-four. Follow the Grandma Gatewood Trail about five hundred and fifty feet to its steel frame.”
Plays on the road 0.2 mi from Hocking Hills State Park Youth Group Campground in the Parkwolf Hocking Hills Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Hocking Hills State Park Youth Group Campground is a 13-site, primitive, tent-only campground on Fairview Road between Cedar Falls and Ash Cave. It used to be limited to youth groups, but now any tent camper can book. Vehicles can stay close to the sites; there’s no electricity or running water. This suits groups who want a quiet, low-service base in the woods. Several campers describe it as peaceful, with one mentioning birds and crickets at night.
Y1–Y10 hold up to 10 people apiece; Y11–Y13 can hold up to 60. The site map marks Y2/Y3, Y4/Y5 and Y9/Y10 as connecting pairs. Look at the map before booking: choose a site that fits your group instead of assuming the layouts are interchangeable.
Pit latrines are provided, but there’s no running water at the youth sites. Bring what your group needs rather than counting on a tap at your site. Don’t assume you can use showers or other facilities at the main campground; access for youth campers wasn’t established.
Wildlife
15 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
83 sightingsSnapping TurtleMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
13 sightingsChipmunkMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
19 sightingsGray RatsnakeMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
47 sightingsWatersnakeMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
11 sightingsRing-necked SnakeMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Hocking Hills. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ModerateCedar Falls Trail0.6 mi · 40 min · 1 mi awayA short waterfall loop with uneven, stepped gorge trails.
EasyAsh Cave Gorge Trail0.6 mi · 36 min · 1.1 mi awayAn easy paved walk to a huge sandstone cave and seasonal falls.
ModerateAsh Cave Rim Trail0.6 mi · 40 min · 1.1 mi awayA short loop to Ash Cave's vast sandstone shelter.
ModerateAsh Cave to Cedar Falls Trail6 mi · 4 hr · 1.1 mi awayA cave-to-falls hike passes a 1934 fire tower.
ModerateWhispering Cave Trail from the Lodge0.6 mi · 45 min · 1.8 mi awayFrom the Lodge, steep steps lead to a broad sandstone recess.
ModerateRose Lake Trail2.5 mi · 1.5 hr · 1.9 mi awayA rooty 2.5-mile walk to loop Hocking Hills’ 17-acre lake.
ModerateBroken Rock Trail0.3 mi · 20 min · 2.1 mi awayA short, steep stair climb to a sandstone cleft waterfall
ChallengingGrandma Gatewood Trail5.3 mi · 3.5 hr · 2.3 mi awayA tough 5.3-mile crossing for waterfalls, caves and sandstone gorge.
Sight · 0.1 mi awayAsh Cave Fire TowerA 1934 steel lookout with a weather-dependent climb and wooded views
Sight · 0.9 mi awayAsh CaveA vast sandstone cave, seasonal waterfall, and easy gorge walk.
Sight · 1 mi awayCedar FallsA sandstone gorge walk where rain gives the waterfall its show.
Sight · 1.1 mi awayWhispering FallsA narrow fall on Queer Creek, strongest after rain.Sight · 1.6 mi awayRose LakeA half-mile woodland walk opens onto a quiet fishing lake.
Lodging · 1.8 mi awayHocking Hills Lodge & Conference CenterAn 81-room stay with cabins, trail access and indoor-outdoor pools.
Restaurant · 1.8 mi awayRock House RestaurantA sit-down meal at the park lodge with a forest view.
Sight · 1.8 mi awayWhispering CaveA vast sandstone roof shelters a 105-foot seasonal waterfall.Parkwolf’s Hocking Hills ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
