Ohio State Park Passport
The grind of work can sometimes become too much to handle. We look forward to the weekends, because we feel like we have more time to be present and enjoy life.
We both have our own hobbies, as well as our own ways to relieve life’s daily stresses; sometimes, though, it feels like we don’t get to spend enough time together doing what we both enjoy. A week will occasionally pass by, lost in the routine of work, chores, groceries, and cooking. It is nice to take a weekend, or day trip, and take some time to commune with nature, and enjoy each other’s company.
Not every trip you make gets to be a vacation, complete with a hotel and room service. Lucky for us, Ohio has 75 publicly funded state parks, all within driving distance, and all free to visit. Some can be enjoyed in one day, while others require a weekend of car camping.
We wanted to make our weekends matter, which is why we decided to take on the challenge of The Park Passport.
The Park Passport has been around for a while, and the concept is simple: You visit one of Ohio’s state parks, get your page stamped or “cancelled,” and write down the date that you visited the park.
In addition to cancelling pages in our Park Passport, we also wanted to write short summaries of our trips, complete with pictures, so we can always remember the memories we made at each location.
Although we’ve both been to several state parks in Ohio in the past, our official “Park Passport” journey first started at Hocking Hills.
Southeast Region:
Hocking Hills
| Date | Miles |
|---|---|
| October 16-17, 2021 | ~ 16 |
We visited Hocking Hills over the weekend of October 16, 2021. The beginning of our state park journey. We had just driven back from the Smoky Mountains, and had an itch to go on another hiking adventure. Liz had never visited before, and I had not been in maybe 10 years.
The views are, of course, some of the most dramatic that can be found in all of Ohio. The trails being in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains also make for some of the most difficult trails in Ohio. We were maybe overambitious when we chose our trails. Over two days, we hiked around 16 miles. Not the craziest bouldering that either of us have done, but climbing in and out of each gorge quickly became exhausting. Thankfully, having a memory-foam mattress in the car makes hard hikes easier to recover from.
Southwest Region:
Hueston Woods
| Date | Miles |
|---|---|
| October 23, 2021 | ~ 4 |
Hueston Woods is a place neither of us has hiked before. It is not much of a hiking park, but seems like a great place for mountain bikers. The trails were okay, albeit poorly tended to, and the shore trail specifically is long enough for those seeking a workout. The day we went was cold and sunny, but turned overcast by the time the afternoon rolled around. Luckily, our hiking gear kept us warm and comfy.
After our hike, we visited The Lodge, a beautiful resort located in the park; it would have made a nice getaway if we had chosen to stay there (maybe another time). There seemed to be many activities offered here, and gave off major summer camp vibes. We originally stopped by here to eat, but the restaurant was closed. Hopefully we can come back another time to stay at the resort and try their food!
