Distant Hill Geology Trail

“The poetry of the earth is never dead.”   John Keats

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We have added a new Geology Trail to our trail network on Distant Hill. It is half-mile long walking trail that leads visitors to seven different geological features found in the forests of Distant Hill. All stops have signs with info about what is of geological interest at that location.

 

Distant Hill Geology Trail includes the following stops:

  1. Unique stretched pebble meta-conglomerate outcrops 
  2. A calcium-rich bedrock hill we call ‘Rattlesnake Knoll’
  3. An outcrop with an excellent example of sandstone cross-bedding and more
  4. An mined outcrop of pegmatite, a coarse, crystalline-rich igneous rock
  5. An untouched dome of pegmatite
  6. A small cliff with a talus pile/slope below
  7. An outcrop with an example of a sandstone intrusion

NOTE: We will be making the eastern half of the Geology Trail wheelchair and stroller accessible, and will be connecting the Geology Trail to Distant Hill Nature Trail. 

Site #1 on the Distant Hill Geology Trail has excellent examples of a stretched pebbles in a meta-conglomerate rock outcrop.
Stop #1 on the Distant Hill Geology Trail has excellent examples of a stretched pebbles in a meta-conglomerate rock outcrop.
Site #2 on the Distant Hill Geology Trail is an example of the calcium-rich rock that makes up most of Rattlesnake Knoll.
Stop #2 on the Distant Hill Geology Trail is an example of the calcium-rich rock that makes up most of Rattlesnake Knoll.
Stop #3 on the Distant Hill Geology Trail' is an outcrop of fine siltstone, and coarse sandstone. It has excellent examples of cross bedding, along with a syncline fold, and boudinage structures.
Stop #3 on the Distant Hill Geology Trail' is an outcrop of fine siltstone, and coarse sandstone. It has excellent examples of cross bedding, along with a syncline fold, and boudinage structures.
Stop #4 on the Distant Hill Geology Trail is an outcrop of a crystalline-rich igneous rock known as pegmatite. This site shows evidence of past mining operations to extract the valuable crystals from the outcrop.
Stop #4 on the Distant Hill Geology Trail is an outcrop of a crystalline-rich igneous rock known as pegmatite. This site shows evidence of past mining operations to extract the valuable crystals from the outcrop.
Stop #6 on Distant Hill Geology Trail is a cliff face with an example of talus pile, aka talus slope, below the cliff.
Stop #6 on Distant Hill Geology Trail is a cliff face with an example of talus pile, aka talus slope, below the cliff.
Stop #7 on Distant Hill Geology Trail has an example of an intrusion of a sandstone channel into bedded sandstone.
Stop #7 on Distant Hill Geology Trail has an example of an intrusion of a sandstone channel into bedded sandstone. It also shows evidence of a turbidity current, or underwater landslide, with a deposit called a turbidite.