Spotted Horse Ranch a Highlight of Ohio’s Hocking Hills

Guest Blog Post: Spotted Horse Ranch a Highlight of Ohio’s Hocking Hills

We’re excited to share with you the first submission to our Hocking Hills Guest Blogger Program! Jen, from Canton, Ohio, recently spent some time in the area and visited the Spotted Horse Ranch. Below, she describes her great trip and why she recommends the Hocking Hills for any Midwest vacation. This post first appeared on Jen’s blog, here.
Spotted Horse Ranch a Highlight of Ohio’s Hocking Hills
I know this sounds crazy to all my beach-loving friends, but I’d give up a week at the Outer Banks for a chance to roam Ohio’s Hocking Hills. Don’t get me wrong. My family and I lived it up at our condo in Nag’s Head in 2010. However, there’s something so relaxing about the pastoral landscapes, unassuming small towns and plentiful outdoor activities in the Hocking Hills. For me, that experience can’t be duplicated by hot sand and briny water.

Ellen, one of our Spotted Horse Ranch guides, teaches my daughter how to paint horses the way Native American Indians once did.

This past summer, we returned again to Hocking Hills and the Spotted Horse Ranch, a favorite stop that’s a stone’s throw from the town of Laurelville.
The folks at the ranch – especially our fun-loving guides Ellen and Jeff – went out of their way to make sure we had a wonderful, memorable visit on the farm. Ellen even organized a horseback riding camp just for our girls that included horse care lessons, some challenging trail rides in the hills and even painting horses like the Indians used to!
Beyond the beautiful horses, the Spotted Horse Ranch is the ideal place to experience agricultural life – a great farm vacation, if you’re into that. My kids spent hours feeding piglets, petting bunnies, listening to the killdeer, chasing down a run-away calf and laughing at the antics of sheep. Some evenings, we sat on the front porch of our cabin and watched the deer, horses and cattle graze the pastures, which would turn a soft purple with the coming of nightfall.

At the start of one of many trail rides we took into the hills at Spotted Horse Ranch.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Ridge Inn Restaurant in Laurelville where we ate at least five times and picked up dessert to go twice. My older still raves about their meatloaf, and I’d give anything for a bite of one of their chocolate pies! We tried out the breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, and everything we ordered was scrumptious.
There is so much to do in the Hocking Hills area. We swam, played miniature golf, went hiking and canoeing, explored an antique store, spent the day in Columbus (which is another vacation all by itself) and more. We even found time to take a nap once in a while! I wish we could have stayed much longer.
If you’re thinking about planning a Midwest stay-cation, you can’t go wrong
with Hocking Hills. And, if you spend some time at the Spotted Horse Ranch, tell Ellen and the gang I said hey.
About the Guest Blogger: 

Jen says: Born in Youngstown, raised in Salem and now a resident of Canton, I love to call Ohio home. I’m a graduate of Malone University and, for the past 10 years, have been a freelance business writer. This year, I’m trying new wings with Pole Position Marketing as their recently appointed content marketing and social media strategist. My favorite escape is historical fiction. However, my husband and I devote most of our spare time to our two growing girls. As a family, we dig movies, music, art, board games, the outdoors and, of course, travel to lovely spots like Hocking Hills.