Overview
About Rose Lake
Why stop
- A peaceful wooded shore, especially vivid in autumn.
Heads up
- Boats must be carried roughly half a mile from the road.
Rose Lake is a 17-acre fishing and paddling reservoir in Hocking Hills State Park, reached by a half-mile walk from State Route 374. Go if a quiet stretch of water sounds like a good change from the park’s caves and waterfalls; the main draw is the wooded shore, not a dramatic overlook. The path is dirt and can be rooty or uneven near the lake, so treat it as a real walk rather than a quick roadside stop. Swimming isn’t allowed.
Parkwolf’s verdictThe payoffMap
Where it is
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Hocking Hills Tour Guide
Your drive to Rose Lake, narrated.
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 place
Rose Lake Walking Access“You're nearing the walking access to Rose Lake, a seventeen-acre reservoir with a wooded shore. It's half a mile to the water on a rooty path, so this is a good stop for a quiet walk rather than a roadside view.”
Plays as you drive up to Rose Lake in the Parkwolf Hocking Hills Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Whispering Cave and the Lodge
- Old Man's Cave
- Hocking Hills State Park Campground
- John Glenn Astronomy Park
- 22 audio storiesacross Hocking Hills’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor White-tailed Deer, Snapping Turtle, Chipmunk, and 9 more
- Works offlinemaps, 18 trails, 29 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“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
More about Rose Lake
Reaching the waterNavigate to Rose Lake Parking Area off State Route 374, then follow the public access trail to…
Navigate to Rose Lake Parking Area off State Route 374, then follow the public access trail to the shore. Bring water from the car; there isn’t a confirmed refill point along the way. Registered campers have about 300 feet of shoreline access from the campground, but that’s separate from the public walk-in approach.
Fishing and paddlingRainbow trout, channel catfish, bass and bluegill are listed among the lake’s fish.
Rainbow trout, channel catfish, bass and bluegill are listed among the lake’s fish. Paddlecraft and boats with electric motors are allowed, but every boat has to be carried along the half-mile trail and hand-launched at the water. An Ohio fishing license is required for anglers age 16 and older, and state fishing regulations apply.
A good fall shorelineFall color is a particular draw here: trees around the far bank turn the water’s edge into a…
Fall color is a particular draw here: trees around the far bank turn the water’s edge into a band of color, with reflections across the lake. From shore, frame the water with the overhanging evergreen branches for a stronger sense of the wooded setting.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Hocking Hills
16 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
87 sightingsSnapping TurtleMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
14 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.
