Through The Woods
  • Home
  • Blog
  • A Hiker's Guide
  • Plant Profiles
  • One Year Studies
    • Johnson's Woods >
      • Johnson's Woods
    • Barnes Preserve >
      • Barnes Short Loop
      • Barnes Long Loop
      • BP Pond Overlook
    • Walton Woods Wildflower Sanctuary >
      • Walton Woods Lower Trail
      • Walton Woods Burning Bush
    • Brown's Lake Bog >
      • Bog Boardwalk
      • Bog Loop
    • Wooster Memorial Park >
      • Sycamore Tree
      • Trillium Hill
      • WMP Prairie
  • Shop
    • Shop
    • Photography

Hocking Hills State Park

8/18/2017

0 Comments

 
Hocking Hills, where does one begin, this is an area I've been visiting since I was a child, it is so very dear to my heart and I know I'm not alone on this. Every year millions of people travel from all over the world to experience the beauty that is this natural area. You'll find everything from waterfalls, cliffs, and caves. By observing the rocks you can travel through time and observe the history of Ohio. 

The first people to explore and establish in this area were of the ancient Adena culture over 7,000 years ago. More recently in the 1700s Native Americans would travel through these caves and hollows. In the 1800s white settlers began settling in the land and by the late 1800s it became a popular scenic attraction. In the 1920s the State began purchasing this land to preserve these natural features.

The rocks tell us so much more than that. The highlighted features of the Hocking Hills complex are carved from Black Hand Sandstone and shale. This bedrock was deposited more than 350 million years ago as a delta in the warm shallow sea which covered Ohio at that time. The millions of years following, the uplift and stream erosion created the remarkable features you can see today.
Sandstone varies in composition and hardness from softer, loosely cemented middle zone to harder top and bottom layers. The recess caves like those seen at Ash Cave, Old Man's Cave, and Cantwell Cliffs are all carved in the softer middle zone. Weathering and erosion widened cracks found in the middle layer of sandstone at the Rock House worked to create the unusual formation found there.
When observing the rocks you can also see interesting features like cross-bedding, honeycomb weathering, and slump blocks.
Although glaciers never reached the park areas, their influence can be found throughout the area in the form of the vegetation such as the towering eastern hemlocks, the Canada yew, and the yellow and black birch growing in the gorges. 

While we weren't able to visit all of the parks on this trip, we did see quite a few...
Rock House, Conkle's Hollow, Old Man's Cave, Cedar Falls, and Ash Cave
(Missing - Cantwell Cliffs, Whispering Cave)

Click "Read More" to read about each place we visited and enjoy some of the photos we took along the way.
Picture

Read More
0 Comments

      Email list
      ​Sign up

    Subscribe

    RSS Feed

    About

    Since 2015 we have been exploring and sharing all the amazing things we’ve found in nature.
    From great and unique places to explore, to learning about new and interesting plant species, to understanding the earth’s cycles.
    Follow along and discover new and interesting things about the world around you. 

    Author

    Emily is an Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist who is most often found out in the woods. 

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015

    Categories

    All
    2018 Winter Prediction
    2 Year Anniversary
    3 Year Anniversary
    All About Ferns
    American Kestrel
    April Inspiration
    April Recap
    Ash Cave
    Ashland County
    Audubon Wetlands Preserve
    Autumn
    Backyard Naturalist
    Bald Eagle
    Barne's Preserve
    Beauty
    Bedstraw
    Bee Balm
    Bee-Balm
    Bergamot
    Big Dipper
    Birding
    Birding Ohio
    Birds
    Birdseed
    Bird's-Foot Trefoil
    Birds In The Winter
    Bishops Cap
    Bloodroot
    Bluebird
    Blue Jay
    Blue Phlox
    Bluet
    Blue Vervain
    Bog
    Bog Swamp Fen Marsh
    Branched Coral Fungi
    Brecksville /OH
    Broadleaf Enchanter's Nightshade
    Brown's Lake Bog
    Bugs
    Burning Bush
    Buttercup
    Butterfly
    Canada Anemone
    Carex
    Carnivore
    Caution
    Cedar Bog
    Cedar Falls
    Chickweed
    Chicory
    Chippewa Trail
    Cinquefoil
    Clear Wing
    Cleavers
    Climate-change
    Clover
    Cohosh
    Coltsfoot
    Common Mallow
    Conkle's Hollow
    Conservation
    Cooper's Hawk
    Corn Speedwell
    Crow
    Crown Vetch
    Cutleaf Toothwort
    CVNP
    Dandelion
    Dead Nettle
    Decomposition
    Deep Lock Quarry
    Deer
    Dew Drop
    Dragonflies
    Driving
    Dundee Falls
    Dutchman's Breeches
    Dwarf Ginseng
    Eastern Comma
    Endangered
    Etiquette
    Evening Primrose
    Explore
    Explore Ohio
    Facts
    Fall
    Fall Hiking
    Fall Hiking Spree
    Fall Wildflowers
    False Mermaid
    February
    February Recap
    Fleabane
    Flower Spotlight
    Foraging
    Fungi
    Garden
    Garlic Mustard
    Geranium
    Giant Blue Cohosh
    Giant Leopard Moth
    Golden Alexander
    Golden-crowned Kinglet
    Goldenrod
    Gray Headed Coneflower
    Great Blue Lobelia
    Greater Celandine
    Grosjean Park
    Ground Ivy
    Groundsel
    Hampton Hills
    Hawkweed
    Hepatica
    Herb
    Herbal
    Highlights
    Hike
    Hike Ohio
    Hiker's Guide To Wayne County
    Hiking
    Hiking Alone
    Hiking Ohio
    Hocking Hills State Park
    How To Observe
    Hummingbird
    Hummingbird Moth
    Indian Cucumber
    Indian Cucumber Root
    Insects
    Inspiration
    Invasive
    Invasive Species
    Jack In The Pulpit
    Japanese Beetles
    John Muir
    Johnson Woods Nature Preserve
    July
    Kestrel
    Kidney Leaf Buttercup
    Killer Plants
    Lamb's Quarters
    Ledges
    Lesser Celandine
    Liberty Park
    Lichen
    Little Apple Creek
    Magee Marsh
    March 2018 Review
    Marsh
    Mayapple
    Meadow
    Meditation
    Metroparks
    Mines
    Mockingbird
    Monarch
    Moonville
    Moth
    Mullein
    Mushrooms
    Naturalist Studies
    Natural Remedy
    Nature
    Nature.org
    Nature Quote
    Needle Ice
    New Year Hike
    Night
    Nine Months
    Northeast Ohio
    Nuthatch
    Oak Openings
    Observations
    ODNR
    Ohio
    Ohio Caverns
    Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist
    Ohio Hiking
    Ohio Parks
    Ohio Spiderwort
    #ohiowildflowers
    Ohio Wildflowers
    Old Man's Cave
    O'Neil Woods
    One Year Series
    One Year Study
    Orchid
    Oriental Bittersweet
    Outdoor Safety
    Park
    Partridgeberry
    Phenology
    Phlox
    Pitcher Plant
    Plantain Leaved Sedge
    Plant Care
    Poem
    Purple Cress
    Queen Anne's Lace
    Quote
    Ragweed
    Rattlesnake Master
    Recipe
    Rock House
    Rose Pogonia Orchid
    Rue Anemone
    Rural Fall Hiking
    Rut
    Safety
    Safety Tips
    Sandhill Crane
    Sandstone
    Scarlet Cup Fungus
    Scheuchzeria
    Self Heal
    September Recap
    Serpent Mound
    Shepherd's Purse
    Shreve
    Silver Creek Metro Park
    Skunk Cabbage
    Smilax
    Sneezeweed
    Snow
    Solo Hiking
    Spangler
    Spangler Park
    Spree For All
    Spring
    Spring Wildflowers
    Squirrel Corn
    Stars
    State Nature Preserve
    Storm
    Summer Flowers
    Summer Fun
    Summit County
    Summit County Metro Parks
    Summit Metro Parks
    Sundrops
    Sunrise
    Swamp
    Swamp Buttercup
    Sweet Clover
    Tea
    Teasel
    The Wilderness Center
    Thimbleweed
    Timelapse
    Tobacco Hornworm
    Toothwort
    Trees
    Trillium
    Trillium Trail
    Trout Lily
    Tufted Titmouse
    Turkey Tail Fungus
    Two Leaf Toothwort
    Velvetleaf
    Viceroy
    Virginia Knotweed
    Walk
    Walton Woods
    Waterfall
    Waterleaf
    Wayne County
    Wayne County Ohio
    Werewolves
    West Branch State Park
    White Avens
    White Baneberry
    Wild Blue Phlox
    Wildflower
    Wildflower-count-2017
    Wildflowers
    Wild-geranium
    Wild-ginger
    Willow-gall
    Winter
    Winter Birds
    Wood Anemone
    Wood Hollow
    Woodland Sedge
    Wooster
    Wooster Memorial Park
    Wooster Ohio
    Yarrow
    Yellow
    Yellow Springs
    Zaleski
    Zizia

  • Home
  • Blog
  • A Hiker's Guide
  • Plant Profiles
  • One Year Studies
    • Johnson's Woods >
      • Johnson's Woods
    • Barnes Preserve >
      • Barnes Short Loop
      • Barnes Long Loop
      • BP Pond Overlook
    • Walton Woods Wildflower Sanctuary >
      • Walton Woods Lower Trail
      • Walton Woods Burning Bush
    • Brown's Lake Bog >
      • Bog Boardwalk
      • Bog Loop
    • Wooster Memorial Park >
      • Sycamore Tree
      • Trillium Hill
      • WMP Prairie
  • Shop
    • Shop
    • Photography