Madonna Of The Trail - Visual Ohio One Shot!

Written by Dani and Andrew Livelsberger

Photography by Andrew Livelsberger

Even though the gray, wintery weather has already started blanketing Ohio, we are out there gathering stories for you!

At 21 Fisher Street in downtown Springfield, OH is a statue called Madonna Of The Trail.  This memorial commemorates the pioneer mothers of the covered wagon era.  This was brought to Springfield by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution(NSDAR).

It is one of 12 identical statues in the 12 states across the USA that run the National Olde Trails Road through them.  This spans from Maryland to California.
They were all dedicated between 1928 and 1929.

The majority of the information on the base of the monument is the same on each, there are some local information on each as well.

The link above has more detailed information on the history of the monument.

Whispering Cave

Written by Dani and Andrew Livelsberger

Photography by Andrew Livelsberger

Background:
The newest area in the Hocking Hills State Park region, Whispering Cave Trail and Hemlock Bridge Trail take you 250+ feet down to the second largest cave feature in he park.  Once there, you will see a 105 foot waterfall.

Impression:
From the beginning of Hemlock Bridge Trail, you'll start your decent.    There is a sign at the beginning preparing you for the hike.

Both new trails and the cave will get you about a 2.5 mile journey put and back.

Moderate difficulty?  Check
Good footwear?  Check
Plenty of steps?  Check

Still ready to go?  Trust us...you'll want to make the journey.  The day we went, was just after a storm.  The rocks and paths were still a bit muddy, but footing was solid.   Just do yourself a favor and don't be in a hurry.  One, for safety reasons, but the others is to take in all the sights and sounds.

After the initial descent, the trail goes through some wooded areas and brings you to a series of steps.  Just before we descended the steps we could here a rather large woodpecker putting in some work!!

At the bottom of the steps, you follow the trail off to the right.  A short ways down you'll be treated to a large sandstone cliff face.

The image above shows a sign directing you.  Following the trail closest to the cliff face will take you to Whispering Cave.  It's roughly 0.3 miles from this location.

Here is a wider view of the cliff face.  You can get a good judge of the size of it from the couple to image right.

Following the path, you'll need to decent some rocks.  They are step like, so you have some good foot holds.  You'll then come to a set of stairs.  Descend those to get into the cave itself.

From there, you'll be able to cross through the cave and see if from the other side.  When we were there, we found this Cairn, a human made pile of rocks used for various purposes throughout history.

And, again, from the far side of Whispering Cave, looking back.