America’s best hiking trail almost never was
Whispering Cave is the best trail that almost never was — Photo courtesy of Josh Zielinski
The 5-mile Whispering Cave hike in Ohio’s Hocking Hills State Park claimed the top spot in the 2024 USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards for Best Hiking Trail. This moderately challenging loop, comprised of two different trails, features a swinging bridge, a seasonal waterfall, and an impressive 105-foot-tall cave — all guaranteed to captivate visiting nature lovers.
Yet, this new hiker-favorite trail was only discovered in 2017, and its “rediscovery” is as interesting a tale as the cave itself.
Where is Whispering Cave?
Whispering Cave is located in Hocking Hills State Park in Southeast Ohio, about 55 miles from Columbus. Although the park doesn’t have a gate count, as entry is free, the Hocking Hills Visitor’s Bureau figures that at least 4 million visitors worldwide come to hike, birdwatch, and enjoy the outdoors here every year.
Discovering Whispering Cave
Cedar Falls is another popular spot to hike to in Hocking Hills State Park — Photo courtesy of Eric Hoffman
Anyone who experiences Whispering Cave can thank Jim Schaefer, a Shaker Heights resident and Ohio native who has visited the park with his wife, Joan, since the early 1980s.
While hiking in the gorges of the park’s Old Man’s Cave trail, he found a faint unmarked path with a fallen sign marked Gulf Trail that led up along the cliffs to the back side of the park lodge. Schaefer traced the approximate location of this route on his map and kept it for subsequent family visits, always overwhelmed by its natural beauty.
Some 30 years later, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources issued a media release asking for suggestions on improving Ohio state parks. Schaefer responded, suggesting restoring both the old Hemlock Bridge Trail (the Gulf Trail) and the Whispering Cave spur trail just off it. While Schaefer’s suggestion reached the park superintendent, the idea was vetoed at the time, citing the staff, money, and resources necessary to bring the trails back to life.
The making of Whispering Cave
Undeterred, Schaefer canvassed for volunteers, getting a tennis buddy to commit 135 of his church members who had trail maintenance experience to get involved. He also contacted Jim Zehringer, then-head of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, who shared his enthusiasm and connected Schaefer with Gary Obermiller, then-chief of state parks. They became a powerful trio with a shared commitment to restore the trail.
In 2015, Schaefer’s volunteer crew and some park employees began clearing the trail and made plans to put a swinging bridge over the creek at its other end. In the meantime, Schaefer had shown park officials a second “hidden” trail, which would become the other part of the Whispering Cave loop. Along the way, they found a large recess cave in the cliffs that was pretty much unknown and decided to add this to the trail project.
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It took another year before state park crews built a suspension bridge across the Hemlock Bridge Trail and a series of wooden boardwalks to reach Whispering Cave. According to Jeff Large, naturalist supervisor at Hocking Hills State Park, that was the most challenging part of the project, as safety was paramount, and some of the work had to be done by hand, using pneumatic tools. Nevertheless, Large says park crews never had so much fun trail building, noting that they had to rappel into the gorge to work each day.
Whispering Cave opens to the public
Jim Schaefer (at center in a teal-and-black shirt) participates in the ribbon-cutting ceremony — Photo courtesy of Eric Hoffman / The Columbus Dispatch
A dedication ceremony for the new trails and cave took place in 2017, which celebrated an excellent conservation effort and Schaefer’s incredible persistence and fortitude. He never wavered in his belief in the beautiful park and the power of change.
Following the dedication of Whispering Cave Trail, the park also built a new lodge in 2022 so hikers could overnight there and then walk directly from the lodge to the trail. Also, at the end of the hike, there’s now a Raptor House, where visitors can meet rescued injured raptors with endearing names like Owl Capone and Hawk Hogan.
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Opening up Whispering Cave Trail has also alleviated hiker use on the park’s other three most popular trails — Old Man’s Cave, Cedar Falls, and Ash Cave. This beautiful state park and its myriad trails and natural features are worth exploring. It’s a shining example of a great park, citizen involvement, and a place for all to commune with nature.
Why is it called Whispering Cave?
These days, every spring, Whispering Cave Trail brings a burst of wildflowers, such as pink lady’s-slippers and columbine. The trail meanders past lush groves of sycamore trees, leading up to the sublime cave.
Hocking Hills naturalist supervisor Large says the cave’s name comes from its intense echo once inside, which seems to play tricks on you. “If there’s a group on the other end of the cave from where you’re standing, it sounds as if someone is whispering in your ear,” he adds.
