Conkles Hollow State Nature Preserve

About this Location

Conkles Hollow is one of the most spectacular features of the Hocking Hills region. Its sheer cliffs of Black Hand sandstone rise nearly 200 feet above the valley floor. The deep, cool gorge, which is only 100 feet wide in places and is considered by some to be the deepest in Ohio, has numerous waterfalls cascading over its sandstone cliffs. The Lower Gorge trail was recently redesigned to accommodate visitors of all abilities.

  • Spectacular sandstone gorge with excellent vistas
  • Spring wildflowers and fern communities
  • Parking lot, restrooms, and 3.5-mile trail system are available.
  • The Lower Gorge Trail is a 1-mile handicapped-accessible trail.
  • No pets allowed

The cliff tops with their magnificent overlooks and the quiet gorge beneath offer visitors an opportunity to explore different habitats, each with its own unique plant and animal communities.

About 350 million years ago, this portion of Ohio lay under the waters of a vast inland ocean. Rivers flowing into this ancient sea carried coarse and fine-grained sands, depositing them in large wide deltas much like the present-day delta at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Over millions of years, these sand deltas were buried by finer textured silt and clay sediments. Eventually, these sedimentary deposits were compressed to form a thick hard layer of sandy textured rock, now referred to as Black Hand sandstone.

Great forces of energy within the earth caused the land surface to gradually rise, eventually forming the present Appalachian Mountains. As the ocean waters drained away, the new land surface dried out and became subject to the erosional processes of surface water and climatic extremes.

The newly exposed sediments were weathered away, layer by layer, and washed onto some distant river delta. Today Black Hand sandstone layers are the uppermost of these past sediments and they, in turn, are being acted upon by erosional forces.

Conkles Hollow was purchased in 1925 by the state of Ohio in order to preserve its scenic beauty. In 1977, the site was dedicated as a state nature preserve.

The Lower Gorge Trail is a 1-mile handicapped-accessible trail.

About Hocking Hills State Park

See all hotspots at Hocking Hills State Park

The natural history of this region is as fascinating as the caves are beautiful. Here, in these sandstones and shales, one can read Ohio’s history from the rocks. The scenic features of the six areas of the Hocking Hills State Park complex are carved in the Blackhand sandstone. This bedrock was deposited more than 350 million years ago as a delta in the warm shallow sea which covered Ohio at that time. Subsequent millions of years of uplift and stream erosion created the awesome beauty seen today.

The sandstone varies in composition and hardness from softer, loosely cemented middle zone to the harder top and bottom layers. The recess caves at Ash Cave, Old Mans 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 to create that unusual formation.

Other features of the rock include cross-bedding, honeycomb weathering, and slump blocks. The first is noticeable as diagonal lines in the rock intersecting horizontal ones. It is actually the cross-section of an ancient sandbar in the delta and was caused by changing ocean currents. Honeycomb weathering looks like the small holes in a beehive comb. They are formed by differential weathering which comes about when water, moving down through the permeable sandstone, washes out small pockets of loosely cemented sand grains. Finally, the huge slump blocks of rock littering the streams tumble from nearby cliffs when cracks widen to the extent that the block is no longer supported by the main cliff.

Although the glaciers never reached the park areas, their influence is still seen here in the form of the vegetation growing in the gorges. The glaciers changed the climate of all of Ohio into a moist, cool environment. Upon their retreat, this condition persisted only in a few places such as the deep gorges of Hocking County. Therefore, the towering eastern hemlocks, the Canada yew, and the yellow and black birch tell of a cool period 10,000 years ago.

Notable Trails

Conkles Hollow State Nature Preserve Trails
There are 3 trails at Conkles Hollow.
Gorge Trail – 0.5 miles to the waterfall, handicapped accessible
East Rim Trail – 2-mile loop
West Rim Trail – 2-mile loop

A description and map of a hike in Conkles Hollow is on the AllTrails website.

Features

  • Wheelchair accessible trail

  • Restrooms on site

Content from Official Website, Hocking Hills State Park Official Website, and Ohio Ornithological Society