Rockbridge State Nature Preserve is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

featuring a

natural bridge A natural arch, natural bridge, or (less commonly) rock arch is a natural landform where an arch has formed with an opening underneath. Natural arches commonly form where inland cliffs, coastal cliffs, fins or stacks are subject to erosion fro ...

located in the

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

of Rockbridge in Hocking County,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is part of the

Hocking Hills The Hocking Hills is a deeply dissected area of the Allegheny Plateau in Appalachian Ohio, primarily in Hocking County, that features cliffs, gorges, rock shelters, and waterfalls. The relatively extreme topography in this area is due to the ...

region, but the

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

that forms the natural bridge is located lower in the

stratigraphic Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithost ...

sequence than that which forms most of the region's notable features.

Nature preserve

The preserve consists of of land which borders the

Hocking River The Hocking River (formerly the Hockhocking River) is a right tributary of the Ohio River in southeastern Ohio in the United States. The Hocking flows mostly on the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau, but its headwaters are in a glaciated region. ...

and is connected to the trailhead via a narrow easement. The park's trail system includes two loop trails, one of which passes the natural bridge, while the other passes a

rock shelter A rock shelter (also rockhouse, crepuscular cave, bluff shelter, or abri) is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff. In contrast to solutional caves (karst), which are often many miles long or wide, rock shelters are alm ...

. Both formations are located a short distance from the Hocking River on small tributaries. The preserve was acquired by the state of Ohio in 1978.

Natural bridge

The natural bridge is the largest of at least 12 natural bridges in the state of Ohio. It is approximately long, wide, and thick. It was formed when water eroded the softer layers of

Mississippian Mississippian may refer to: * Mississippian (geology), a subperiod of the Carboniferous period in the geologic timescale, roughly 360 to 325 million years ago * Mississippian cultures, a network of precontact cultures across the midwest and Easte ...

Black Hand sandstone underneath the bridge. The nearby community of

Rockbridge, Ohio Rockbridge is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in eastern Good Hope Township, Hocking County, Ohio, United States. It has a post office with the ZIP code 43149. It is located at the interchange of U.S. Route 33 a ...

is named after the formation.

References

External links

Official website
of the Rockbridge State Nature Preserve Natural arches of Ohio Protected areas of Hocking County, Ohio Ohio State Nature Preserves Landforms of Hocking County, Ohio Protected areas established in 1978 1978 establishments in Ohio {{HockingCountyOH-geo-stub