Friday, April 3, 2020

Threat from COVID-19 forces closure of Ohio's Hocking Hills State Park

The assembly of expected throngs of visitors at arguably Ohio’s most popular state park could not overcome the threat of an infectious biological agent so small that it would take 500,000 of them laid end-to-end to measure 0.4 inches long.

Closed until further notice because of the world-wide coronavirus (COVID-19) is the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Parks and Watercraft’s 2,373-acre Hocking Hills State Park in Hocking County.

Included in the closure are the park’s popular seven hiking trails totaling about 25 miles. Among them are the footpath to Old Man’s Cave, Ash Cave, and the Rock House.

Also shuttered is the adjacent 87-acre Conkle’s Hollow State Nature Preserve. This unique preserve features a gorge that drops to 200 feet and spans only 100 feet in places.

The park’s camping area was all ready closed by a prior order associated with the COVID-19 pandemic threat.
A
t this time, Hocking Hills State Park is the only full park closure in Ohio’s state park system.

We believe Hocking Hills is Ohio’s most visited state park. (While) we don’t track individual park visitors, but the Hocking Hills region does attract more than four million visitors annually,” said Sarah Wickham, the Natural Resources Department’s Chief of Communications.

Natural Resources Department Director Mary Mertz said in a prepared statement that “This was a difficult decision, however, this unique trail system is not designed to allow for adequate social distancing without potential risks.”

Mertz said also the challenging terrain of the park’s narrow trail system - where stepping off the trail is strictly prohibited – made “keeping six feet of distance between visitors nearly impossible.”

In some areas, stepping off the trail may result in injury. Limited park staffing could impact response time as well as place undue pressure on local emergency personnel should falls or accidents occur,” Mertz said.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net
JFrischk4@gmail.com




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