Hocking Hills Enterprises
HH
Heart of
Hocking
Guide to
Southeastern Ohio's Wild Side |
Haunted Hocking
The Appalachian hillsides are filled with the whispers of legends and stories centering around events unexplained. For as many of those who will turn a cold shoulder to these tales, there are countless others who will feel the chill of goosebumps run along their arms at just the mere thought of seeing a ghost or finding a cache of treasure beneath the earth.
This page is for both the nonbelievers and the believers. It is for those who are skeptical so they may take an adventure just to prove the tale wrong and perhaps find something in the meantime. And it is for those, too, who might just believe enough to experience the thrill of seeing something-but then realize maybe they didn't want to see it in the first place.
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From State Route 93-Take State Route 56 to State Route 278 south-following the signs toward Lake Hope State Park. You will pass the iron furnace on the right and then the park lake. After the lake, make the first left on to Wheelabout Road. Almost immediately, the road will fork-veer to the left side of the fork. Follow this road until you get to a metal, one-lane bridge crossing over Raccoon Creek. Just before the bridge and on the left, you will see a pretty well-worn dirt trail that will lead along the bottomland and then up a gravel incline to the old tracks. The Moonville Tunnel is on the left. Watch out for poison ivy all along the trail! |
No trains have passed through the towns of Hope, Moonville or Ingham for well over twenty years but nearly hidden behind years of thick forest growth, the old Cincinnati and Marietta Railroad tracks still run noiselessly through this section of southeastern Ohio. But the locals here in Vinton County say the railway tracks aren't the only remnants of the iron furnace days still hanging around. In fact, stories tell of a railway brakeman that haps by the old Moonville Tunnel in the dark of night... It seems that back around 1859, after stopping in Moonville, a brakeman for the railway had been passing his break time away with a lantern in one hand and a bottle of liquor in the other. He fell asleep and some time during the night, he was awakened by the sound of his train leaving the depot. Unsteadily, he arose, stumbling on to the train track and falling beneath the wheels of the train. The brakeman never recovered from his injuries and the ghost of the man is said to be seen stumbling down the tracks within the tunnel with lantern in hand, still trying to catch the train before it leaves Moonville Station. |
From State Route 93-Take State Route 56 to State Route 278 south-following the signs toward Lake Hope State Park. The iron furnace will be on your right. |
The tiny town of Hope once lay scattered about
the hills and valleys of what is now Lake Hope State Park. All of the
houses have vanished and the only remaining trace of life from long ago is a
tiny, rundown cemetery and the stone structure that was once a bustling iron
furnace.
It is the furnace, legend tells, that has the ghost of a watchman who had stumbled into the fiery furnace and burned to death over a hundred and forty years ago. He is said to be seen with an orange lantern strolling across the top of the furnace on rainy evenings, traveling as if walking on air where the old buildings once connected to the furnace. |
Park campground off of State Route 664 south. |
Richard Roe was best known as the hermit who lived in Old Man's Cave with his hunting hounds in the early 1800's. He spent most of his life dwelling inside the recess cave located along the north wall of the main gorge. One winter, he had scrambled down the gorge wall to get water from the stream below. Upon reaching the water, he realized he had forgotten his tools to break the ice. He looked around for something to crack the ice and the only thing he could find was his muzzle loading rifle. Without checking to see if it was loaded, he began to ram the butt of the gun into the ice. After a few sharp blows, he jarred the trigger assembly and the gun went off, shooting him right in the face. Legend has it that those camping at the park campground have heard the baying of Richard Roe's hunting dogs on full moon nights crying for their master to return. |
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It was a dark, muggy night when the local law
officer was working his way along State Route 56 not far from well-known Ash
Cave. As he drove past State Route 374, the pale white of a
vehicle coming toward him flashed into his windshield, passed and then
continued slowly in the opposite direction.
The car was moving slowly-so slowly, in fact, that the officer turned enough to eye it suspiciously in his rearview mirror. It was old, probably a vehicle made in the late 1950's and the driver's face was obscured by the dusky night. The officer realized just as the old car began to disappear from his sight the reason for the sluggish speed-the thump-thump bounce of the rear of the car was a sure sign the car had a flat tire. Concerned the driver of the car was either too scared to stop in this dark section of the county or needed help changing the tire, the officer turned his car around quickly to pursue the dim smudge of white that should have been ahead of him. But the car had completely faded into the blackness of the road. Although the officer combed the area, the ghostly car had completely vanished. |
Please note! Always check with park staff to see when and where you can hunt for these ghosts! Because of the danger of many areas like the cliffs at Hocking Hills after dark, the trails close at dusk.