Field NotesOhio
Upper Falls in the Old Man's Cave gorge, Hocking Hills, with visitors on the rocks

An independent field guide · 365 places

The field guide to outdoor Ohio

Parks and forests, ancient mounds, caves, waterfalls and back roads, with the story behind each place and where to eat and fuel up nearby.
Popular:
  • 117parks & forests
  • 64ancient mounds
  • 34waterfalls
  • 40historic sites
  • 33road trips

Old Man's Cave, Hocking Hills · Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0

Explore by type

What are you in the mood for?

See every place →

Plan a trip

Explore Ohio

One map for every park, mound, historic site, beach, cave, waterfall and oddity in the app.

Lake ErieWest Virginia36 places368 places813 places135 places523 places2321 places2124 places2416 places1613 places134 places418 places182 places217 places1710 places1014 places142 places27 places76 places613 places133 places34 places414 places143 places3Harrison Lake State Park2 places22 places22 places26 places64 places4

Tap a symbol for a preview, or search for a place. Open the key to show or hide categories.

Parks, forests & wildlife areas

Find a park

117 parks in 7 regions

Hocking Hills Scenic Byway

Southeast Ohio
Scenic byway · Hocking Hills State Park to Rockbridge
26.4miles
3stops

A 26-mile drive along State Route 374 through the gorges and caves of the Hocking Hills.

Length
26.4 miles
Designated
May 2004
Route
All of SR 374 from Hocking Hills State Park to US 33 at Rockbridge, plus pieces of SR 56 and SR 664 that make a loop at the southern end
Buckeye Trail
The Old Man's Cave Section runs through the same country
Best for
A short drive tied to hikes
Things to do
Hiking, cabins, zip lines, horseback riding, canoeing and hot air ballooning
Designation
An America's Byway

The story

The Hocking Hills are a maze of sandstone gorges, caves and waterfalls in southeast Ohio, and SR 374 runs through the heart of them. The byway starts in Hocking Hills State Park, where Old Man's Cave and Ash Cave are, and runs to Rockbridge on US 33. The Buckeye Trail's Old Man's Cave Section follows the gorge trails, including the Grandma Gatewood Trail.

The byway is short enough to combine with hiking, camping and cabin stays in the forest and the state park.

Stops along the way

1 Hocking Hills State Park
Old Man's Cave, Cedar Falls and Ash Cave. Hocking Hills State Park.
Open
2 Hocking State Forest
Quiet woodland and a horse camp. Hocking State Forest.
Open
3 Rockbridge
The byway's west end on US 33.

Take the stops with you

Load the 3 stops into your maps app to drive between them.

The file holds 3 waypoints and a stop-by-stop route line. Locations are approximate, often a town center, so use the stop notes to find the exact spot. Your maps app chooses the roads between stops, usually the fastest, so follow the byway signs where they differ. The GPX arrives in a zip file; unzip it and open the .gpx in a GPS or hiking app. The CSV imports into Google My Maps.

Where to camp nearby

Hocking Hills State Park
The heart of the byway.
Open
Hocking State Forest
A state forest along the road.
Open

Tips

  • Come on a weekday, since the parking lots fill by mid-morning on weekends.
  • Plan the drive around your hikes.

Distances are the route lengths given by the sources. Confirm road conditions, closures and seasonal hours before you go.

Ohio scenic byways list →

Details last checked 2026-09-22. Confirm hours and prices before you go.

Know a place that belongs here, or spotted something out of date? Email hello@fieldnotesohio.com.