If you aren’t looking for the parking lot you’ll never even notice Christmas Rocks Nature Preserve! In this post on Ohio Day Hikes we cover Christmas Rocks Nature Preserve near Lancaster Ohio.

This relatively unknown nature preserve does a lot of good for nature and will get your heart pumping as much as you can elevation wise with a hike in Central Ohio!

We are hoping to highlight in this Ohio Day Hikes series a few lesser known but equally beautiful and challenging hiking spots in the state of Ohio. Spots like John Bryan State Park, Hocking Hills, and Cuyahoga Valley NP get tons of exposure, and deservingly so.

Christmas Rocks Nature Preserve is located near Lancaster Ohio just 25-40 minutes outside of Central Ohio depending on where you are coming from. Watch the video and audio tour below from our friend Kimmy Yo on why this is one of her favorite hikes in Ohio!

It’s open from dawn to dusk and is located next to private land, you have to walk on a gravel road to get to the core portion of the preserve, please be respectful of both the delicate preserve but also the private residences that are basically adjacent to the preserve.

If you are looking for some elevation in Central Ohio and want to miss the crowds in Hocking Hills then this one is for you, our trash cleanup team member @KimmyYo has been going here for years and our wait was definitely worth it!

A few notes and recommendations for hiking at Christmas Rocks Nature Preserve in Ohio:

1. There are very few parking spots and no water/bathroom options.
2. It’s a nature preserve no pets are allowed (even service animals I believe.)
3. There are two loop hike options. The blue and the orange. Doing both of them will give you about 5 miles of hiking and several hundred feet of ascent/descent.
4. Trekking poles are nice to have if unsure on your feet on the descent of these loops.
5. @KimmyYo recommends two loops for 10 miles if you are feeling like getting after it!

Overall this is a super quiet place to day hike and a nice in between option of the incredible C Bus Metro Parks and the Hocking Hills/Great Seal/Strouds Run State Park options that are a farther drive into Southern/Eastern Ohio.

More Ohio Day Hike options are at the bottom. Remember to leave no trace and maybe even pick up some trash with a big while ya hike.

Thanks for reading, leave your comments about any other great day hikes you love right outside of a city you live in.

Because Adventure Feeds the Soul,
Mike R