Day trip to Lancaster, Ohio- hikes, antiques and breweries.

The weather has been so nice in Columbus! It finally feels like spring is here. The combination of warm weather and feeling so cooped up during Covid winter has made me extra motivated to get out and hike every weekend this month. I’m happy to share with you my latest hikes and adventures! This adventure led me south of Columbus for a day trip to Lancaster Ohio for hikes, antiques and breweries. In this blog I’m going to talk about hiking Christmas Rocks State Nature Preserve, the Olde Shoe Factory & Storage Antique mall, and Double Edge & Outerbelt breweries, all located about 40 minutes from Columbus.

Christmas Rocks State Nature Preserve

Let’s start with the hike, and it’s one I’ve done before- Christmas Rocks State Nature Preserve. Since it’s a repeat visit you know I love it! The last time I visited was two winters ago and I remembered it being difficult because of the sliding I was doing with all the snow and ice. This time I visited it was just as difficult as I remember!

Some general facts about the hike:

• This nature preserve is not pet friendly, so I had to leave Oliver at home.
• There are no restrooms anywhere on location (and there is a stream running along the path to remind you of that).
• The parking lot for the preserve is the same as that for the Arny run county park
• The hike is 4.5 miles (though there is an option for a short hike if preferred).
• The hike is moderate to difficult (we had a total elevation gain of 751 feet during this hike).

 

You’ll know you’ve found Christmas Rocks when you find the Mink Hollow covered bridge, a beautiful photo opp built in 1887.

Don’t be scared if the parking lot looks full- it was when we went and we passed very few people. From the parking you have to walk about a half mile on the Old Hollow Road Southwest. There is no parking along the road and you’ll pass a few private properties, so you’ll feel like you’re going the wrong way. But after about a half mile you’ll see the entrance to the Christmas rocks. It is a 4 mile hike, 1 mile of which is the hike just get to the trail intersection of orange and blue trails

Hiking Christmas Rocks

Christmas rocks is a 554 acre nature preserve in Fairfield county. The trail itself is just pretty much mature forest. There are some large stone outcrops and hills, but otherwise you were just immersed in the nature and it is so beautiful and peaceful.

The name Christmas rocks may be because of the early settlers that collected ferns that grew in the area, These ferns are known as Christmas ferns. While we were visiting the trees had yet to bloom which is a shame because this preserve is home to several rare species of tree. It is also a favorite location for birders (I definitely don’t fall under that category).

Blue Trail

There are two trails in this nature preserve, marked as orange and blue. The blue trail is 2 miles long and is rated as a moderate hike. It goes to the northern most part of the park and is a loop. We hiked it by taking the path that veers to the right when we came to the fork.

The blue trail was at times difficult, but really beautiful. The elevation is considerate, and while you don’t see a vista, you do have lovely scenery with tons of trees. We also found a sandstone outcropping which had beautiful honeycombed weathering and a little cave.

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Jacob’s Ladder

The orange trail is where you come across the most spectacular part of Christmas rocks, If you are choosing to do only the orange trail I recommend walking past the first sign post and starting from the second. We were coming from the blue route, and pretty quickly after that trail we came to the orange trail.

If you only have time to do one trail make sure it is the orange. The orange trail is shorter, but the difficulty level is much higher; we were huffing and puffing from the start. But you get to the scenic vista pretty quickly.

This scenic lookout stone formation is known as Jacob’s Ladder. This black hand sandstone formation towers 250 feet above the valley. I loved it almost as much as the view from one of my recent hikes, Buzzard Roost.

After admiring the view you make the trek down the hill, which is steep and difficult. From the picture below you can see how steep it is! While you are hiking down the hill you get another look at the outcropping that you were just standing atop of, pretty cool!

Olde Shoe Factory and Storage Antiques

While on the day trip to Lancaster we decided to make a stop at the Olde Shoe Factory and Storage antique mall. This antique market is in a remodeled historical building. With over 40,000 ft.² of showroom space, there are over 90 vendors and two floors of shopping. It is open every day except Sunday until 6pm.

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Double Edge Brewery

If you’re familiar with my blog you also know that I love to make stops into breweries or wineries while hiking. This week we had time to stop at two breweries. The first was Double edge brewery, located right in downtown Lancaster near the antique store. It is open Wednesday through Sunday and when I visited they had 13 different beers to choose from.

They offer flights, which I took advantage of so I could try multiple things. I particularly liked Golden Sunrise, a delicious coffee infused golden ale, Sunset Smoothie, a sour-fruited Berliner Weisse, and Long Nights, an American stout. They also have IPAs, wheat beers, porters, and lagers. There is often a food truck on the premises and have outdoor seating near the sidewalk. They are on the Columbus ale trail, so make sure to get your book stamped when you visit.

Outerbelt Brewery

Another brewery on the Columbus ale trail is Outerbelt Brewery This brewery is located in Carroll, Ohio not far from Lancaster. Since it was on our way back to Columbus it was a perfect stop for our day trip. This brewery is only two years old and is located in an industrial area right off of Route 33. It is a massive space located in a former Lowe’s. That means there was ample area for their brewery production, a spacious taproom private room and a covered patio.

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They are open seven days a week and feature 17 different beers. You are sure to find something you like and I took advantage of the variety of beers and got two flights. I particularly liked Raspberry Two-Day Shipping, a sour Berliner weisse, and Cloverleaf, an Irish dry stout with notes of coffee and chocolate. They had several other sours, stouts, IPAs, Hefeweizen, golden ales, Saison and lagers. My most favorite was the Neapolinator dopplebock- it was amazing!! They had a food truck on site when we visited and lots of beers that were available for taking home.

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There you have it, my day-trip into Lancaster, Ohio. No matter if you want some hikes, antiques or breweries, you’ll find it in Lancaster. If you liked this blog post, be sure to check out others I have about hikes around Ohio, such as Blackhand Gorge State Nature Preserve, or Cesar Creek State Park. See you on my next adventure!