HISTORICAL AND ENVIRONMENTA EDUCATION
Guided tours of the restored gristmill are available from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Please check the Calendar of Event link below for tour times. Off-season tours are by appointment only.
Guided nature walks are conducted every Saturday and Sunday during the summer season. A variety of topics, settings and subjects are discussed and explored.
Guided nature walks are conducted every Saturday and Sunday during the summer season. A variety of topics, settings and subjects are discussed and explored.
Trail of Geology
The natural character of McConnells Mill State Park, the scenic gorge, waterfalls, rugged hiking trails and whitewater creek, are all directly caused by the geology of the area. The bedrock formed over 300 million years ago as layers of sand, mud and peat in what was a coastal area. After becoming rock, these different layers were lifted to the surface in several mountain-building events. The different strengths of these rocks cause them to erode differently, helping to make the varied landscape of the park. The gorge and the dramatic topography of the park were created by glaciers over the past two million years.
Heritage FestivaL
heritage festival 
is held on the third or fourth weekend in September. The festival celebrates the operational era of the Old Mill (1852-1928). Visitors can witness artisans and craftspeople making art and try old time games and crafts. Other activities include mill tours, corn grinding demonstrations, musical entertainment, a Civil War encampment and food vendors
is held on the third or fourth weekend in September. The festival celebrates the operational era of the Old Mill (1852-1928). Visitors can witness artisans and craftspeople making art and try old time games and crafts. Other activities include mill tours, corn grinding demonstrations, musical entertainment, a Civil War encampment and food vendorsGlacial History
If you stood at the Cleland Rock Vista (see the map for location and below for a photograph) 200,000 years ago, you would be standing on a ridge at a drainage divide. Water to the north flowed north and water to the south flowed south. 
If you stood at the same location about 140,000 years ago, you would be standing at the edge of a small lake dammed by several hundred feet of ice. The ice was the edge of a continental glacier that covered most of North America north of Cleland Rock. The glacier dam created small Lake Prouty by Cleland Rock. To the north was larger Lake Watts (modern Lake Arthur is a small recreation of Lake Watts) and further north was giant Lake Edmund.
Eventually Lake Prouty spilled over the ridge near Cleland Rock and began carving Slippery Rock Creek Gorge. As the glacier retreated, Lake Watts drained into the channel, enlarging and deepening the gorge, then Lake Edmund swiftly poured into the channel, scouring the gorge to over 400 feet deep. When the glacier finally retreated back to the north, Slippery Rock Creek Gorge was so deep that streams that normally flowed north, now flowed south, as the streams do today. The swift erosion of the gorge created its swift water and the many boulders that offer great challenges to modern whitewater boaters.
If you stood at the same location about 140,000 years ago, you would be standing at the edge of a small lake dammed by several hundred feet of ice. The ice was the edge of a continental glacier that covered most of North America north of Cleland Rock. The glacier dam created small Lake Prouty by Cleland Rock. To the north was larger Lake Watts (modern Lake Arthur is a small recreation of Lake Watts) and further north was giant Lake Edmund.Eventually Lake Prouty spilled over the ridge near Cleland Rock and began carving Slippery Rock Creek Gorge. As the glacier retreated, Lake Watts drained into the channel, enlarging and deepening the gorge, then Lake Edmund swiftly poured into the channel, scouring the gorge to over 400 feet deep. When the glacier finally retreated back to the north, Slippery Rock Creek Gorge was so deep that streams that normally flowed north, now flowed south, as the streams do today. The swift erosion of the gorge created its swift water and the many boulders that offer great challenges to modern whitewater boaters.
No comments:
Post a Comment