Hocking Hills State Park closure impacting businesses
Justin Wood runs three short term rentals near the park and is seeing cancellations ahead of the long weekend.
LOGAN, Ohio — As part of the great resignation, Justin Wood said goodbye to his corporate job and entered the world of hosting short-term rentals. He runs three in Logan next to Hocking Hills State Park.
With the long weekend ahead he had all three booked and now one group has backed out.
“It’s about a $500 loss,” he said.
He had to break the news to his guests that the park is closed.
“What’s the reason why the state park was shut down?” He asked. “And how are you going to judge when it’s safe to reopen?”
“Closings have been few and far between. We take the closure very seriously because we want to have that recreational opportunity for our guests,” said Tylor Stimmel, a natural resource officer at Hocking Hills State Park.
Tylor Stimmel is a natural resource officer at Hocking Hills. He has worked there for the last five years and grew up nearby. He said he has never seen a closure before due to ice.
“For the park to reopen it’s a multi-step process,” he explained. “So each day we have our leadership here at the park going in and monitoring trails. We have maintenance crews on the trails trying to improve those conditions. Hopefully, weather is going to be favorable when we do that.”
Weather conditions Wednesday were windy and warm, leading to concerns across the region for more trees falling and a refreeze overnight.
An ice storm two weeks ago sent many trees crashing down and that knocked out the power for days.
“Of course, there’s always the risk with cliffs and at-height incidents that occur in our trail system,” Stimmel said. “But the ice is another factor that adds a higher level of danger.”
On Wednesday afternoon orange cones blocked the main entrance to the park. It’s not known how soon that could change.
“To the business owners that we have in the area, all I can ask is that you hang in there we’re doing the best we can to get the trails back open to our patrons and our visitors,” Stimmel said.
For business owners like Justin Wood, he’s thankful there are guests who still want to get away.
“Basically we’re asking our guests to check to make sure what is still open,” Wood said.
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