Best for:
Backcountry hikers, amateur geologists, history enthusiasts, and other individuals seeking a primitive sanctuary away from the crowded.
Trail Notes:
- Primitive Terrain: This is a roadless, unmanicured trek involving creek crossings ending at narrow slot canyons; 4×4 capability is required if you attempt the closest parking lot.
- Geological Treasures: Features Black Hand Sandstone formations, active beaver engineering, and prehistoric marine fossils embedded in the cliff face.
- Navigational Hazards: Minimal signage and zero cell service mean you must rely on physical landmarks like the “yellow gate” and the tree with the red-circle to find Sheep’s Dip.
The Reality of Bison Hollow State Nature Preserve :
The hike to Bison Hollow Nature Preserve isn’t for those who want a paved path and a gift shop. Our journey on April 17 began with a classic Hocking hurdle, of us arriving the wrong address and a total lack of cell service.
Once Kelsey, Kylie, found a bar of service while I walked up and down some random driveway with my phone over my head we headed to Schoolie road Creola, Ohio.
As we approached The Dough Maker, and I saw what looked like a food truck behind it, and I had a stoke of genius. I suggested to Kylie that she should pull over so I could ask the people inside if they could verify we were headed the right way.
The owner had no idea what Bison Hollow Nature Preserve was when I asked, but she did know where sheep’s dip was. She gladly informed me were headed the right way.
Then I finally found the one tiny sign for the preserve, on a telephone pole off to the left side of Schoolie road. The woman we stopped and spoke to had informed me of a parking lot not to far after this sign as well as one right in front of the preserve, but to use the closer one to the preserve you one hundred percent will need 4X4 or a side by side.
We made the critical decision to park in the informal gravel lot. Driving a Hyundai in past this point would have been a disaster; the road beyond leads to a creek crossing and a road that is littered with massive boulders, considering it’s a road, this makes no sense to me. Thankfully we saved the car by parking early and crossing that first creek on foot.
Immediately after that first crossing, before you even reach the yellow metal “No Motor Vehicles, Hikers Welcomed” gate, you’re hit with the first massive waterfall.
This early reward sets the tone for a landscape that was only recently opened to the public, requiring a strategy for the terrain and a willingness to embrace the accidental 600-foot elevation gain we hit inside the preserve. We climbed that height thinking it was the correct trail, but the mistake paid off with a “Bird’s Eye View” of the canyon allowing us the opportunity to spot the trail we actually wanted to explore.
Sheep’s Dip inside Bison Hollow Nature Preserve:
The area many locals grew up calling “Sheep’s Dip” is located within Bison Hollow Nature Preserve inside the Hocking State Forest. For decades, these chunks of land were inaccessible to the public, used for private hunting or left untouched by their corporate owners.
- The AOA Role: The Appalachia Ohio Alliance (AOA), a non-profit land trust, acted as the primary bridge to secure many areas of land inside of Hocking Forest. They spent years purchasing private parcels, including the 76-acre Harwood property and the Russell tracts, through voluntary sales and Clean Ohio grants to create a contiguous 1,000-acre corridor.
- The State Transition: In January 2024, the land was officially dedicated as a State Nature Preserve. This shift is notable because while it is public, the AOA remains the owner and manager. It holds the highest level of legal protection in Ohio, far stricter than a standard State Park, ensuring it remains primitive and roadless.
Ancient Blueprints -Ridged Shell Molds and Slot Canyons:
Bison Hollow is home to a unique geological phenomenon known as slot canyon formations. These narrow, deep passages are carved into the Black Hand Sandstone by the constant flow of Queer Creek.
While trekking, we spotted what appeared to be massive seashells embedded in the cliff walls. These indentation molds might be remnants of prehistoric marine life from the Devonian and Mississippian periods.
The presence of ridges in these molds is the key; they likely are not just weather-worn holes. They could possibly be the negative imprints of shells that were buried in a high-energy sandbar 350 million years ago.
These ridges were formed so perfectly that the pattern of what is potentially an ancient shell’s groves are remains visible in the rock face even today.
Beaver Engineering & the Native American Presence:
Our hike in Hocking State Forest at Bison Hollow Nature Preserve, eventually led us across what appeared to be a beaver dam, and my research confirms that this wasn’t an accident.
Beavers are the keystone engineers of the Bison Hollow watershed. By damming the East Fork of Queer Creek, they create the deep pools and wetlands that filter the water, allowing the two frogs we found to thrive in the pools by the last waterfall.
Historical Roots
Long before locals were calling it “Sheep’s Dip,” this area was a vital resource for Native American groups, including the Shawnee, Delaware, and Wyandot.
The name Bison Hollow stems from the last Eastern Woodland Bison killed along these banks in 1799. This species was central to the survival of the Indigenous people in the Valley.
The name sheep’s dip came from early farming history of the Hocking Hills and Vinton County region. Before it was protected state forest or nature preserve, much of this land was used for grazing.
The Local farmers found that the deep, natural sandstone basins at the bottom of the waterfalls stayed filled with cool, clean water.
To prevent sheep scab and other parasites from ruining the wool or harming the animals, farmers would lead their flocks down into the hollow and literally dip or submerge them in these natural stone pools.
Ancient Inhabitants:
Walking the stream and admiring the natural minerals Ohio has to offer shows evidence of the inhabitants of this land from long before treks were taken for fun.
Kelsey found evidence of this when locating an arrowhead made out of flint in the shallow stream.
This goes to provide evidence that this land was used by indigenous peoples many years before us.
The Navigating Bison Hollow Nature Preserve – A Hiker’s Practical Record:
The experience of Bison Hollow is defined by its primitive nature.
TLDR – Trail Notes:
- Roughly 2.5 hours spent there – including breaks
- Great Trip. 1000/10 Location.
- Just over 3 miles
- Sheep’s dip – end trail to the right of the yellow gate, Tree has a large red circle.
- other treks are here
- Park in the small lot down the road from the only sign.
- side-by-sides & ATV’s Likely the only vehicles able to utilize closer lot by the yellow gate
- Plan on a day trip between the time driving to the primitive location and the time exploring you’ll need it.
- We were greeted by visitor butterflies along the way.
- Remember if you start going up, up, up and away from the stream too far you are not going to sheep’s dip that way.
Preservation of the Primitive:
Bison Hollow remains a rare piece of Hocking that hasn’t been overtaken by tourists. The transition from private land to a State Nature Preserve has kept the focus on biology and geology rather than tourism.
From the last bison that was killed here giving the preserve its name to the modern beaver dams shaping the creek today, the preserve is a living history book. It’s a place where you can still feel the history of the Shawnee and see what might be the prehistoric ocean shells in the ridged molds of the canyon walls, provided you’re willing to hike the miles to find them.
TLDR;
Bison Hollow Nature Preserve is a 1000/10 primitive location for hikers who value seclusion over convenience. Located at 26230 Schoolie Road in Creola, Ohio, this trek features the iconic Sheep’s Dip pool, prehistoric fossils, and active beaver dams.
Expect a 3-mile, 2.5-hour journey through rugged terrain with no cell service, and parking early to save your car, follow the stream to avoid getting lost, and respect the highest level of legal protection this land now holds.
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