The Stone House Loop trail is centrally located in Salt Fork and in total is 1.8 miles in length. This turned out to be a great length for what my friends and I were looking for. It was long enough to explore different areas and stop for a few snacks, but definitely short enough that we still had energy left at the end. The hike was 1 mile to the Stone House, which is a historical building built in 1840 and is now used as a monument and tourist site, and 1 mile hike back. The trail was very clearly marked and very easy to stay on track, yet had a varying terrain filled with rocks, roots, leaves, mud, puddles, bridges, and everything else that could add an obstacle on the trail. Although with this slight rugged terrain, it turned out to be very beginner friendly. On our excursion, we had passed several kids with their parents exploring the Stone House site, and even passed several dogs on the trail. I highly recommend old hiking shoes or boots for this time of year on the trail because the amount of mud we had on our shoes was insane! Overall, this loop was great and is geared towards beginners and tourists looking for the Stone House. The views of the lake on this trail were great, and although I wouldn't recommend this trail for a grand trek, we definitely had fun with this one!
The second trail we hiked, Hosak's Cave, is located more north in the park and was a short 0.5 miles long. This little trail opens up to a beautiful viewing of Hosak's Cave, and provides a massive atmosphere in which you can appreciate nature and all of its beauty. Although the trail stops well ahead of the cave, we went off-road and continued towards the cave. The path was extremely rugged, in which we had to duck under fallen trees, jump from rock to rock, and cross through several streams just to arrive at the basin of the cave. It had just warmed up after several days of below freezing, so the small waterfall coming down had collected into a giant column of ice. Of course, we couldn't just stop there and continued up under the cave to look back at the trail. One of my friends, who is fairly new to hiking and exploring trails, mentioned that she absolutely loved the view and realized that this was a freeing break from a stress-filled day. Our experience with Hosak's Cave was very positive and we all were amazed with the awesome views.
"The reward is your destination." -Marla Anders
Being the outdoorsman that I am, I too like to hike. I have never been hiking at Saltfork but it looks like a lot of fun. Those were some really great pics of the scenery and brick house. I've been to salt fork a few times this year, but only to use their archery range and to hunt in their designated hunting zones. I find Saltfork to be a really nice park and would recommend it to anyone looking to have a good time outdoors.
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ReplyDeleteI grew up in the Guernsey County area and have been to Salt Fork countless times for hiking, riding horses,fishing,swimming, archery, I actually have a job at a place called Deerassic Park which is right before one of the park entrances off of East 22 which is also based a lot on outdoor activities. The Stone house above has underwent considerable construction since when I first saw it as a kid. Back then it was more of a skeleton of a stone house with the roof not even covering it, depending on when you went you may have seen some of the pictures inside the house now that show what it use to look like back in the 90's.
ReplyDeleteI've spent my whole life in the Guernsey County area and I have been to Salt Fork lots of times. I've had many birthday parties and small vacations out there and at the lodge. I've hiked the same trails you have and they are just awesome ones to take and see the beautiful nature. Salt Fork is kind of known for it's "Bigfoot" sightings and rumors and I've actually had some weird experiences out there at the Stone House. My friends and I were getting our picture taken and all of a sudden we heard the loudest, deepest screetch ever and we took off in .2 seconds! I still don't know what happened but it was really weird. Maybe one day you will come across a weird situation like that there, haha. I'm glad you had fun and I love your pictures!
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