Tucked into the southern rim of Hocking Hills, this vast recess cave opens like a sandstone sanctuary, shaped not by hands but by water and time. The trail leading in is quiet, hemmed by hemlocks and the soft murmur of a creek, until the forest parts and the cave rises: 700 feet wide, 100 feet deep, and crowned by a seasonal waterfall that spills like a veil from the rim above.

Klepzig Mill wasn’t built to impress — it was built to endure. Raised in 1928 by Walter Klepzig, the structure reflects a kind of Ozark pragmatism: vertical pine planks nailed to hand-hewn sills, unmortared stone piers anchoring it to the creek’s edge, and a roof patched with corrugated iron and salvaged truck parts. Every element speaks to resourcefulness. Nothing wasted. Nothing ornamental.