Dean M. Chriss
Photography
Rock House, Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio

Rock House, Hocking Hills State Park, Ohio

(Click image to enlarge)

Rock House is a tunnel-like corridor situated midway up a 150-foot cliff of Black Hand sandstone. The main corridor is 25 feet high, 20 to 30 feet wide and 200 feet long. Water leaking through a horizontal joint running parallel to the cliff face caused the hollowing of the corridor. A series of smaller joints run at right angles to the main joint. Enlargement of these smaller joints formed the gothic looking windows of Rock House. These allow light into the main corridor from the cliff face, as seen in the right side of the image above. Shades of brown, red and orange in the stone come from iron compounds, while green moss grows in wet areas that are exposed to sunlight.