REMARKS: Large erosional remnants of a yellowish friable sandstone (Allegheny Group, Pennsylvanian age) are present here near the axis of the Chestnut Ridge anticline. In 1876, Franklin Platt wrote (p. 5 in reference below): "It (Elk Rock) will undoubtedly become a great place of resort for the lovers of fine scenery." The sketches of Elk Rock were drawn in 1865 by J. Peter Lesley.
Nearby and near the edge of the Youghiogheny River gorge is a flat rock covered with Indian sculpture and know as Cow Rock (122).
REFERENCE: Platt, Franklin (1876), Special report on the coke manufacture of the Youghiogheny River valley in Fayette and Westmoreland Counties, Pennsylvania Geological Survey, 2nd ser., v. L, p. 4-6.
REMARKS: Indian Creek flows through a steep scenic gorge that exposes sandtones, shales, and siltstones of the Allegheny Group (Pennsylvanian age) to the Catskill Formation (Devonian age).
REMARKS: The rocks were named after the then Lietenant Colonel George Washington, in command of a company of Virginia militia, who, with the help of friendly Indians, surprised, killed, wounded, or captured the entire French force of Ensign Jumonville.
The rocks are large outcrops of medium-grained sandstone, calcareous sandstone showing crossbedding, and some scattered conglomeratic zones. The outcrops are part of the Loyalhanna Limestone member of the Mauch Chunk Formation and Burgoon Sandstone of Mississippian age.
Fulton Knob (125), nearby, is underlain by sandstones of the Pottsville Group.
Washington Springs (126), also named after George Washington, is flowing from the Loyalhanna Limestone.
REMARKS: The Youghiogheny River crosses Laurel Hill in a deep gorge. Rock exposures and the landscape of the gorge reveal a geologic history of sedimentation, deformation, and erosion that is typical of the Allegheny Mountain section. Ohiopyle Falls is especially noteworthy in that falls of this magnitude are rare in southwestern Pennsylvania. To the east in Henry Clay Township, Horseshoe Bend (138) is a large meander in the river.
REFERENCE: Bushnell, Kent (1970), Ohiopyle State Park: Geologic Features of interest, Pennsylvania Geological Survey, 4th ser., Park Guide 7. Download/read pdf file of this document here.
REMARKS: The Seven-County Scenid View is spectacular - on a clear day, you can see the U. S. Steel Buiding in Pittsburgh, 45 air miles away. Outcrops of Pottsville sandstone (Pennsylvanian age) occur in massive blocks on this west slope of Chestnut Ridge. White Rocks. (140) is a popular climbing area nearby.