Winter Driving Tips

Many visitors to the Hocking Hills comments on the hilly curvy nature of many of its roads.  For the locals, well, it’s just the way home.  To visitors, particularly in in “off-season” conditions, these roads can seem quite treacherous!

We’re here to help. 

In the hills, portions of the road are in deeper shade, possibly getting water run-off from cliff sides, and can remain frozen after the rest of the road way seems okay.  Alternately many of the roads up on the ridges experience drift, with portions of the road in front of you simply disappearing for a moment under a light blanket of drifting snow. 

Here are our top 5 winter driving tips, direct from the Hocking Hills “locals”!

1. Go slow and gentle!  Accelerate slowly and gently, apply brakes slowly and gently.

2. Use your engine!  Enter downward slopes very slowly and down shift to reduce speed rather than applying brakes.  A critical skill to learn in the hills!

3. Rely on a bit of momentum!  It seems counter-intuitive to use inertia on hilly snowy roads, but once your car stops on its way up an icy hill, well, it’s a slippery slope… right back down. Sometimes it's best just to keep 'er moving.

4.  Know your route!  Some roads in the hills are steep and tricky in the best of times.  Stick to the main roads during winter weather, as it might be a long walk back to “civilization”, and with the spotty cell phone service ‘round these parts', well you get the point.

5. Know your car!  Anti-lock brakes, traction control, 4 wheel drive, can all be quite helpful.  However if their abilities and limitations are misunderstood and misused, it can actually cost you and help put you in a ditch!

2 minute vid from AAA on winter driving

Our camper cabins have heat ;)