Hocking Hills State Park

It’s an Ohio State Park. It is undisturbed forests and rugged cliffs and deep, mysterious gorges. It is hiking, bird watching, star

Hocking Hills State Park

programs and wildlife. It’s Adventure. It is the Hocking Hills.

People have always been fascinated by the breathtaking beauty left behind after nature carved her name into the Blackhand Sandstone of Old Man’s Cave. Many enjoy the unique features around Old Man’s Cave but few question how the hollows and ridges were cut into this particular stretch of land. Ever wonder? Well here’s why….

To begin with, the gritty, reddish stone you see all over the park is a type of sandstone called Blackhand Sandstone. It was left behind more than 200 million years ago when Ohio’s ancient ocean drained from the land.

But long after the sea disappeared, the land around Old Man’s Cave was still being changed by millions of years of subtle movements and shifts deep beneath the earth.

Actually, along with the movement of the earth, it’s really nothing more than water and erosion that made this place we call Hocking Hills. In fact, your own back yard might be able to take on this same effect with a hose, a shovel and some earthmoving equipment. Oh and you’ll also need a few million years of patience too. That’s about how long it took just for the water to erode away at the surface to form the deep pockets, cracks and grooves.

And of course, you can see the erosion at work when the spring rains fill up Queer Creek near Old Man’s Cave and she pours her excess into what we call Cedar Falls.

But you might want the strength of a glacier to help you out too. Although the glaciers didn’t quite make it to the park, the kind of plants that existed during the glacial period are still found in the deep gorges. The huge hemlocks, black birch and Canada yew are all signs of the gorge’s cool past.

Our Contact details : 

19852 State Route 664 S  Logan,
Ohio     43138

Visit our website: https://www.thehockinghills.org