Rockhounding Around: Old Man's Cave, Hocking Hills State Park- Ohio

I lost some photo's recently and I don't want to loose these. Blogging helps by keeping them where I can find them. I also like blogging because I can write more than one line verses what you can write on it if you tag it.
I went to a reunion and on the way to visit some other people I stopped off in Hocking Hills State Park. I have many found memories of this place and wanted to get some pictures since I never really took any when I went there before. The state park has 6 separate areas over 2,000 acres. The six areas are; Old Man's Cave; Cedar Falls, Ash Cave, Conkles Hollow (state nature preserve); Rock House; and Cantwell Cliffs.
One of my favorite places and one of its most famous is Old Man's Cave.
Now to let the images do the talking for me.

When you get there you have to walk a path that is about a mile long to see the cave where he lived.

You barely notice there is a gorge there when you first get to it. I could see why he liked living there. It was very secluded.

Then the water drains into this area and formed the gorge in the Blackhand Sandstone of the Cuyahoga Formation. It is of the Mississippian age - 350 Million years. The Blackhand Sandstone was deposited in a deltaic environment, with the source rock coming from the east. In this area the Blackhand Sandstone is 150 feet thick. The creek is called Old Man's Creek.

The rock is a sandstone and you can see the cross bedding in it.

Blackhand Sandstone at Old Man's Cave, Hocking Hills State Park - Ohio

Ohio had been experiencing a drought and even though it was spring time there wasn't a lot of water flowing through it. It seemed like when I've been here before there was always more water and it was harder to see the outcrops.

It hits a plateau and then it continues down. Some area's have more shale than others and the shales erode easier and form those plateaus.

There is a person in this one for scale. What I've always been impressed with this area is the joint fractures that you see. You really can't call them faults since you really don't notice displacement along them. But its because of the extensive fractures and joints in the area that allow paths for the water to migrate through. The water carries sediments in it which scours away the rocks creating these beautiful falls and scenery.

Here you can see how the waters have removed away the less resistant materials.

The water must have been higher at one time - probably when the glaciers were there and it scoured out these ledges.

See this grotto that was forming at the base of the river.

The one thing I remember about the area is that there were a lot of joints. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_%28geology%29
Just look at that joint and the way the tree has started to grow in it. I'm sure when the tree dies and rots away where the roots dug into will be easily eroded away and thus allowing another path for the water to migrate through.

Another area that had been scoured out by water. This area if known for its honeycomb weathering - small holes in a beehive. The holes are due to the differential weathering of the sandstone.

Some of them were pretty big and I could see people like a tribe of Indians living there.

The colors in the area also make it so scenic. The green color is probably due to mosses growing on the rocks. The reddish colors are due to the weathering or iron that was in the rocks when it was deposited. It is because of the reddish spots and the crossbedding that it can be inferred it was at one time a deltaic deposit.

The was a place that is called the Devils bathtub and they had this sign here to warn people not to go into it.

You can just see the water going into this area and how its scouring out the rocks as it swirls its way down.

The Devil's Bathtub - Old Man's Cave Hocking Hills State Park- Ohio

The gorge to the upperfalls channeling the water form Old Man's Creek into the Devils Bathtub area.

The Devils Bathtub at Old Man's Cave, Hocking Hills State Park Ohio

Here's another view of it and you can get a feel for how the water can scour out a place in the rocks like it does.

The Devils Bathtub - Old Man's Cave Hocking Hills Ohio

Just look at the way the Blackhand sandstone has been eroded away.

When I came to this sign I was surprise to see there was a choice to be made I just remembered it as being a loop around the area. I decided to go to the Upper Falls.

The Upper Falls at Old Man Cave, Hocking Hills state Park Ohio

After I saw the falls I decided to go up along the rim of the gorge for awhile.

This was looking down at the river.

From here you wouldn't realize it was there.

Then I got to the area that was the cave area where the man lived. The man that gave the place its name was Richard Rowe. He moved to the area around 1796 and spent most of life living in this area. He is also believed to have been buried in the area too.

This gives you an idea at how much the sandstone rocks overhang the weaker shaley rock. And even thought this is not a true cave it did give protection during inclement weather.