A footbridge over Pine Creek opens the gentlest stretch of walking in the Hocking Hills: a paved and boardwalked trail running nearly the full half mile to the end of the gorge, level enough for strollers and wheelchairs almost the entire way. Conkle's Hollow is a state nature preserve with its own quieter rules — visitors stay on the marked trail, and pets are not permitted anywhere in the preserve. The hollow takes its name from W. J. Conkle, who carved his name and the date 1797 into the sandstone here. Wildflowers line the gorge floor, hemlocks shade the path, and the cliff walls begin rising almost immediately on both sides.
That little footbridge under your feet is the doorway. Cross it, and everything softens — voices, footsteps, the light through the hemlocks. This is the preserve, and you know the deal by now: stay on the path, and do a little more listening than talking. I'll take my own advice through here, keep my voice low and the stops few.
Some good news first, though, said quietly. Of all the gorge walks in these hills, this one asks the least of you — paved and boardwalked nearly to the end, no stairs, no scrambling, and strollers and wheelchairs manage almost the entire way. Just a green half mile with sandstone walls climbing higher on either side as you go.
One soft reminder before we're in deep: dogs sit this one out — no pets anywhere in the preserve.
Now, the name. In seventeen ninety-seven, a man called W. J. Conkle stood in this hollow and carved his name and the date into the sandstone. History tells us almost nothing else about him. The rock kept his secrets — the way this hollow has been keeping visitors' secrets ever since — and it got a name out of the bargain.
Wildflowers low, hemlocks high. Walk soft. The walls are already rising.