Hocking Hills Place Names Explained: Where the Names Come From

Most Hocking Hills names trace back to a river, a settler, or a plain description of what early visitors saw. A few of the best-loved stories are tradition rather than documented record, which is worth knowing before you repeat them on the trail.

Start with the river: where “Hocking” comes from

The region takes its name from the Hocking River, and the river's name predates the county, the park and the cabins. The official tourism bureau notes that Hockhocking was a name spoken by the Wyandot, Delaware and Shawnee peoples. The most repeated translation is “bottle” or “bottle-shaped.” The Ohio History Connection's Ohio Memory site says the tribes called the river the “Hockhocking,” or “the bottle neck river,” because of the shape of its gorge.

Two cautions. First, sources disagree about which language the word comes from, so “a Native word” is safer than naming one nation. Second, accounts differ on exactly which feature looked like a bottle. Some tie it to the river's upper end near Lancaster, others to a gorge or falls there. Maps used the longer form “Hockhocking” for much of Ohio's first century of statehood before “Hocking” settled in.

Hocking County itself was organized in 1818, according to Ohio Memory. “Hocking Hills” is the modern marketing name for the hill country that river drains, which is why the label feels older than it is.

Towns named for people: Logan and Nelsonville

Logan was laid out in 1816 by Ohio Governor Thomas Worthington, as a state historical marker records. The usual explanation is that the name honors Chief Logan, a Mingo leader associated with the area when settlers arrived. That explanation appears in standard references such as Ohio History Central and in local tourism writing, but the roadside marker itself does not spell it out, so treat it as the accepted account rather than something carved in stone.

Nelsonville was first settled in 1814 by Daniel Nelson, according to the history cited in its standard encyclopedia entry, and incorporated in 1838. The sources I checked do not state the naming in so many words, but the name and the settler line up, and nobody seems to dispute the connection. If you are in town for the Public Square, our Nelsonville visitor guide covers what to do once you get there.

The park names: Old Man's Cave, Ash Cave and the others

Ash Cave has the firmest explanation. Ohio DNR says American settlers named it for the huge piles of ash they found inside, and that Indigenous groups had lived in the cave for centuries before. The ash is commonly attributed to long-used fires, though that link is an interpretation.

Old Man's Cave is where documentation thins. Ohio DNR says an early pioneer trapper, who settled in the 1790s, was likely the “old man” and was reportedly buried there; the agency's page does not name him. Ohio Memory names the hermit as Richard Rowe and says locals coined the cave's name. Our county history guide uses the Rowe version. Read it as a well-supported local tradition, not a documented biography.

Cedar Falls carries the best-known “mistake” story: early settlers took the hemlocks in the gorge for cedars. It is repeated widely, including in our own history guide, but I could not trace it to an official park source, so it belongs in the tradition column. The hemlocks themselves are real and easy to see.

Conkle's Hollow is, according to Ohio Memory, named for W.J. Conkle, who carved his name and the date 1797 into the sandstone. Note the spelling: Ohio DNR writes the preserve as “Conkles Hollow,” while many local sources keep the apostrophe. Cantwell Cliffs is generally said to be named for the Cantwell family, early settlers in the hills, and some accounts name Joseph Cantwell specifically. That comes from tourism and lodging writing rather than an agency source.

Rock House is the one that needs no detective work. The name describes a room-like cavern in the cliff, and the sources I checked did not credit it to a person. Treat it as descriptive.

Names that describe the ground: Rockbridge, Sugar Grove and Haydenville

Several village names are simply labels for something you can see or learn about. Rockbridge takes its name from the natural bridge at the nearby state nature preserve, which our Rockbridge guide describes. Our Sugar Grove guide notes that Berne Township was named by Swiss settlers for Bern and that the maples lining the village gave Sugar Grove its name. And in Haydenville, the company-town story runs through Peter Hayden, whose coal hopper gave the hillside settlement above town its nickname, as covered in our Haydenville article.

Quick reference: how firm is each explanation?

How to tell a documented name from a good story

A few habits help when you are standing at a trailhead sign or listening to a guide. Ask who wrote the explanation down and when. A state agency page, a historical society publication or a period county history carries more weight than a blog post, including this one. Notice hedging words such as “likely,” “reportedly” and “some accounts say”; the best sources use them honestly. And expect small contradictions. Spellings, dates and even the number of tribes named in a given story shift between sources, which usually means the story was passed along orally for a long time before anyone printed it.

None of this makes the stories less fun. It means you can enjoy the hermit and the hemlocks while knowing how much weight each one can bear. For more local lore, see our folklore guide, and for the person behind the park's best-known trail, Grandma Gatewood.

Planning note: Verify time-sensitive hours, closures, conditions, and property-specific details before you drive or book.