Water V Rock - Ohiopyle State Park - Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania
N 39° 52.058 W 079° 29.694
17S E 628725 N 4414148
This is one of several waysides located within the Falls Day Use Area of Ohiopyle State Park, Located at 124 Main Street in Ohiopyle Borough, Fayette County, Pennsylvania
Waymark Code: WMFPRB
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 11/14/2012
Views: 3
This is one of several waysides within the Falls Day-Use Area of Ohiopyle State Park, which should be the first stop when coming to this park. Here you will find, along with this wayside, views of the famous Ohiopyle Falls. There are also modern sanitary toilets nearby for your convenience.
Marker Text Reads
It's an ancient contest that still draws crowds
Here at Ohiopyle Falls, The Youghiogheny River
has struggled against solid rock for millions of
years. The noise vibrates inside us as we watch
Mist from the shallowed river drifts overhead
Our senses register the conflict and we find it
strangely fascinating? What really happened here>
In simplest terms, the river is trying to find
a smooth, calm passage to the sea. But the
earth below has shifted. Hard, resisted rock
formations have pushed into the river's path
Persistently, the river probes, trying to find
weakness in this rocky barrier.
Assuming that this grinding and
buffing continue, Ohiopyle Falls eventually will
disappear and the river will win this contest
- in perhaps a half million (500,000) years
1. The hard Pottsville Sandstone resists the
erosive power of the Youghiogheny River
to form the Ohiopyle Falls, but over time
the river will find weaknesses and cracks
in the sandstone
2. Turbulent water spilling over the falls
carves into softer rocks and undermines the
the hard sandstone
3. The sandstone cracks along natural
joints and falls into the river. Slowly,
the falls retreats upstream until the
sandstone barrier is reduced to rubble