For the third time this year, a hiker who entered a state park in the Hocking Hills region did not leave alive.
John Schneider of Bay Village, fell about 90 feet to his death Monday near Cedar Falls, a waterfall in Hocking Hills State Park.
Schnieder, 66, was one of three friends who were hiking to photograph the falls, said Dr. David Cummin, Hocking County’s coroner.
While Schnieder was hiking around a barbed wire fence, his friends called for him to return to the trail just before he inadvertently stepped off a cliff, Cummins said, adding that he struck two walls before landing in a pool of water below.
All three falls have occurred in less than a month’s time, with the first fatal fall occurring April 27 near Old Man’s Cave. They all occurred after hikers went off trail, despite signage at the parks advising otherwise, state and local officials have said.
“(Schnieder) didn’t know where he was and just stepped too far,” Cummins said. “The fence is there for a reason.”
Schnieder’s death comes just two days after Peter Livingston, a Boy Scout troop leader from Circleville, died as a result of a 130-foot drop at the Big Springs rappelling area.
Josias Rodriguez, a 19-year-old Ohio Christian University student who fell near Old Man’s Cave, was the first person die from a fall this year.
In response to the deaths, park officers will be increasing rounds in Hocking Hills and will be issuing more citations to hikers who wander off the path, said Eileen Corson, spokesperson for Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
State officials are also developing new color schemes and language for safety signage, Corson said.
Still, Cummins said hikers need to use better judgment when walking the state park’s trails — no matter what the state does.
“All three of these deaths could have been easy prevented,” he said. “The trails are there for a reason.”
sh335311@ohiou.edu
