Hell Hollow Wilderness Area

Steven Toth
Jun 23, 2016
3 min read

This past week I took a trip out to Leroy in Lake County to check out Hell Hollow Wilderness Area. Looking into this particular park before even going I was informed that there would be plentiful waterfalls and I was not disappointed. My hike started off taking the path to the left and following to a set of steps that take you down to Paine Creek. Following the creek around a large bend you will run into a waterfall flowing from what looks like the woods into Paine Creek. When I was there a large tree was laying across the creek to a ledge on the other side. With some careful footing and good balance you can cross this tree and go up into the woods on the other side. Please be careful doing this, if you do not feel comfortable doing it then don't and I am by no means telling anyone to attempt this. If you manage to cross the fallen tree to the higher bank on the other side you will feel as tho you have been transported to a different world. I am not to sure if you would consider this particular runoff of water a creek or stream but it was very low but still flowing at a decent rate. Many small waterfalls going back up at least about .5 - .75 miles as well as many fallen trees in this gorge where simply stunning. I took a good portion of my photos back in this area because it was just so lush and green. After a while I decided to hike back down stream/creek and take the tree back across Paine Creek to walk further down stream. Again this whole entire creek is filled with small waterfalls that you can hear by walking on the path that is through the woods. Eventually the path will open up near Paine Creek to where you can walk right out into it. I kept walking down the creek around another bend that was lined with about a 5-6 foot tall shale rock wall until I saw a drop off. This is the area that has the largest waterfall that I had found on this day. I hike back up the river and enjoyed the three smaller falls that are upstream from the larger split falls. Looking under a few rocks I came across a Dragon Fly Nymph, it is crazy to think that can turn into a Dragon Fly. Keep in mind it is a bit of a challenge to walk this creek as the edges are shale rock and are very slippery when they are wet but if you manage to tip toe your way up stream it is well worth it. I hiked the steps back up to the trail split and took the left trail back to the parking lot as it is roughly the same length as the trail I took to the steps. Total trail hiking was about .75-1 mile to get to Paine Creek. I did about another 2.5-3 extra once I made it down. When I arrived in the parking lot the sun was setting and I couldn't help myself to not take some photos of the sky as the sun went down and the moon came out. One of the most surreal feeling I have had was trying to photograph the moon. I would center it up and by the time I had the perfect shot it had already moved out of the center of my frame. It is a very powerful for me to think something so massive so far away is moving so quickly almost all the time. Nelsons Ledges is on my list this coming week and weather permitting that is where I will be. As always if you have any suggestions for me for where you would like me to go take photos there is a contact me section on the "About Me" page. I hope you all enjoy my images and feedback is always welcome!