Hocking Hills 'cruise' offers comfort food worth traveling for

Steve Stephens
·4 min read
Kindred Spirits at the Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls is one of 12 stops on the Hocking Hills Comfort Food Cruise.
Kindred Spirits at the Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls is one of 12 stops on the Hocking Hills Comfort Food Cruise.

LOGAN – Although better known for the wonders of Mother Nature, the Hocking Hills is also a great place to experience comforting food like Mom used to make.

After a two-year pandemic break, the popular Hocking Hills Comfort Food Cruise is back for a new, eighth edition during the first two weekends of March.

The cruise features 12 stops at locally owned eateries, each offering up a heaping sample of one “comfort food” specialty such as meatloaf, mac and cheese, cobbler and much more.

Inside Hocking Hills:Rainy day at the Hocking Hills? Here are 5 ways to enjoy the area indoors

Tickets for the cruise are $20, with $5 going to local food banks. The tickets are good for one sample at each stop over both weekends (March 4-5 and 11-12) and are available online at explorehockinghills.com or at the Hocking Hills Regional Welcome Center, 13178 Ohio Rt. 664 in Logan. The website also has complete details including addresses and hours of participating restaurants and links to their websites or Facebook pages.

Rock House Restaurant at the new Hocking Hills State Park Lodge is another Comfort Cruise stop.
Rock House Restaurant at the new Hocking Hills State Park Lodge is another Comfort Cruise stop.

Something I love about the Comfort Food Cruise is that it gives visitors a nudge to try places they might not otherwise know about, such as the classic and classy but casual Urban Grill at the Hocking Hills Golf Club; or the tasty pastries and more from Tacie’s Sweet Treats, hidden away in a shopping strip on the edge of Logan.

Among the stops is Hocking Hills Coffee Emporium, one of my favorite spots for a pre-hike latte or quick breakfast, which is offering a Danish and medium coffee.

Home Tavern, a friendly neighborhood eatery in downtown Logan, will serve up pulled pork sliders and white mac and cheese.

The Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls will offer Comfort Food cruisers a delicious triple-berry cobbler.
The Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls will offer Comfort Food cruisers a delicious triple-berry cobbler.

A triple-berry cobbler is on the menu at Kindred Spirits Restaurant at the Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls, which is worth a drive in itself.

The venerable and popular Jack’s Steak House will serve beef and noodles over mashed potatoes.

The Urban Grill at Hocking Hills Golf Club will present “ultimate” grilled cheese – quite a claim, but you be the judge.

Luxurious lodgings:New Hocking Hills State Park Lodge boasts 81 guest rooms, renovated cabins, restaurant, pub

Crispy evergreen garlic fries are the choice at Rock House Restaurant in Hocking Hills State Park Lodge, another venue that’s worth a visit even if there’s nothing else on your agenda.

Tacie’s Sweet Treats will give visitors a portion of broccoli cheese soup and a pinwheel rollup.

There are also two great cruise stops in Laurelville in the northwestern corner of the Hocking Hills region: The Ridge Inn will serve its classic meatloaf; and Mam’s Rusted Skillet will offer a hamburger slider with fries.

Treehouse Treats & Treasures is a fun stop for ice cream and more.
Treehouse Treats & Treasures is a fun stop for ice cream and more.

Other Comfort Cruise offerings include banana bread french toast from Hocking Hills Diner; a mini froyo parfait from Hocking Hills Frozen Yogurt, and a junior scoop of ice cream at Treehouse Treats & Treasures.

Even those who only visit a fraction of the 12 stops will undoubtedly consume a modestly shocking number of calories. Of course, the Hocking Hills offers plenty of places to work off those calories, including the gorgeous trails of Hocking Hills State Park, where late winter rains often turn the runs and drips along the way into lively and lovely streams and falls.

After filling up on the Comfort Food Cruise, consider a calorie-burning hike at a destination such as Rock House in Hocking Hills State Park.
After filling up on the Comfort Food Cruise, consider a calorie-burning hike at a destination such as Rock House in Hocking Hills State Park.

Visiting more than a few of the Comfort Cruise stops will likely take more than one day. Fortunately, two of the stops are located at two of my favorite lodgings in the region, the Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls (innatcedarfalls.com) and the new and grand Hocking Hills State Park Lodge (hockinghillsparklodge.com).

Hobbit houses: Magical Earth Retreat offers Hobbit-inspired lodging destination in the Hocking Hills

Overnight visitors have many other options for lodging in the region, including another of my favorites, Magical Earth Retreat (magicalearthretreat.com), which has just opened two new cottages.

The new "Moroccan-style" lodgings at Magical Earth Retreat are a fun place to spend a night or more.
The new "Moroccan-style" lodgings at Magical Earth Retreat are a fun place to spend a night or more.

The destination is known for its comfortable, partially underground cottages that resemble Hobbit houses. But the new cottages, continuing the magical and exotic theme, are like something a traveler might see at a Moroccan caravansary, except with Toyotas and Fords instead of camels tied up out front.

The two new cottages, “Marrakesh” and “Casablanca,” are constructed with energy-efficient adobe and are decorated in a colorful Moroccan style. And each has its own unusual, wood-fired redwood hot tub, a great place to watch the sun go down over the hills and let the days’ feasts digest.

Steve Stephens is a freelance travel writer and photographer. Email him at sjstephensjr@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Hocking Hills Comfort Cruise to take place March 4-5 and March 11-12