News Release

COLUMBUS, OH -- Crews from the Ohio Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in Zaleski (Vinton County) are putting the final touches on a 100-foot wooden stairway that provides additional access and an overlook to the popular Cedar Falls at Hocking Hills State Park. CCC crews expect to complete the project within the next week.

"The CCC has done a great job in constructing the new stairway, which connects two of our most popular trails at Old Man’s Cave and Cedar Falls, ” said Hocking Hills State Park Manager Steve Bennett. “Cedar Falls is one of Ohio’s most beautiful, plunging 50-feet over the blackhand sandstone cliff. The new observation point offers a spectacular view of the falls."

CCC corpsmembers spent nearly three months installing 100 posts down the rocky cliffside to support the five-foot wide, eight-section stairway. The project also included an 81-square-foot landing and a similar-sized observation deck at the bottom of the stairs.

The Cedar Falls stairway is part of a comprehensive hiking trail renovation project initiated by Hocking Hills State Park after a January 7, 1998 flash flood washed out numerous stairs and 13 bridges in the trail system. The entire hiking trail renovation project is expected to be complete by August 2000.

The Ohio CCC, part of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, provides employment and training opportunities to young Ohioans, 18-24-years-old. Unemployed young adults receive valuable work experience, educational opportunities, and life skill training -- all while accomplishing meaningful conservation and recreation projects to benefit citizens of Ohio. Today's Ohio CCC builds on the proud tradition of the federal Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s and '40s.