Chapel Cave Trail Head and Rappelling Area Parking — Attraction in Logan

Breathtaking no matter how many times I have visited over decades of hiking in Hocking Hills. The word majestic comes to mind, as well.

This is primarily a horse trail so keep in mind a few things. The trail can be pretty mucky-muddy in certain spots loaded with deep horse tracks and manure. It is a horse trail so hikers and backpackers need to yield to the riders by stepping off the trail to allow them to pass if necessary and control your dog (they ARE permitted on this trail) so they don't spook the horses. Not all riders are on horses local to the area.

Back to trail info, this is a fairly easy trail to hike even if you aren't in good shape as long as you take your time. If you are a bit unstable hiking, bringing your hiking pole(s) will help.

This trail is part of the Buckeye Trail originally started by local hiker Emma "Grandma" Gatewood designated by the blue blazes. The Buckeye Trail is a giant 1200+ mile loop circling around Ohio. Granny Gatewood used Hocking Hills as her training ground before becoming the first female to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail at the age of 65.

The BT runs congruent to the American Discovery Trail which runs across the US going from DE to CA. Quite by accident, I lucked out and met Benny who was approx. 700 miles into his thru-hike of the ADT while INSIDE the Chapel Cave?! You can't even make this up?! This is his high school graduation gift to himself and he started in DE. He hopes to be in CA by the end of 2023, however Benjamin is trekking at quite an impressive pace!! I have included a picture I took of Benny in Chapel Cave!!

Be sure to go across the road from the parking lot for even more jaw dropping views!! All created by glaciers when they started melting and falling apart.

Final suggestion: use the restroom facilities .7 miles up the road at Conckles Hollow as there are none at THIS parking lot. Dogs ARE permitted at Chapel Cave AND at the Conkles Hollow area of the restrooms BUT NOT on the trails of Conkles...

The trails were completely destroyed by the amount of horse travel in the area. Most of the trek involves navigating a foot thick mixture of mud and horse manure and attempting to find a semi accessible dry footpath that isn't going to try to swallow you up and turn you grey and brown. Not to mention, you will be passed by horses being ridden through the area, and it's nearly inevitable that you will be sprayed with mud kicked up by said horses as they pass yo regardless of how quickly they move. Definitely DO NOT recommend for younger children or those without tall rubber boots. The cave is gorgeous, but in my personal opinion, not worth fighting the mud...

This place is really beautiful! The trail head is on the far end of the park lot right here, not across the road. It felt very secluded, we were all by ourselves at the Chapel Cave and the other little cave we found. Passed a few other people coming in and out. We ended up following the orange blazes up the hill to the right, way too early and ended up on the other side of the gorge from the cave. Stay on the flattest trails and follow the blue and white blazes on the trees. Look for the wooden fence to your right and that will be the turn off. We did this even with elementary aged kids and...