Wind Tunnel EarthCache

One of the more scenic trails at Carter Caves, this meandering path begins at Cascade Cave and loops towards the Cascade Natural Bridge, Box Canyon and a unique wind tunnel.

The Box Canyon Trail is a .75 mile loop trail that begins near the Cascade Cave parking lot. It is one of Carter Caves most scenic trails and passes unusual geologic features in the park, including the Cascade natural bridge and the Wind Tunnel. The trail is hilly and fairly difficult. The trail is marked with orange blazes.

Wind Tunnel is a interesting rock formation along Box Canyon Trail. It resembles an actual tunnel made of sandstone. Once you through the tunnel you will find yourself in a open area with cliff walls all a round you just like at Box Canyon EC site, except it’s not as big.

Time, wind, heat, water, and freezing created Wind Tunnel. As further weathering occurred, less resistant layers underlying the Corbin Sandstone eroded leading to the formation of Wind Tunnel. As the underlying rocks eroded the ridge forming sandstone collapsed along joints. The erosion of Box canyon is controlled by near vertical joint sets that are visible form the base and top of the cliff walls. As further erosion and mass wasting occurred the underlying material completely eroded from beneath the more resistant upper layers leading to the formation of the narrow Wind Tunnel. Further erosion will cause more large chunks of sandstones to break free of the cliff walls in the future.

Wind Tunnel is formed in Corbin Sandstone. The Corbin Sandstone is a member of the Pennsylvanian age Grundy Formation in eastern Kentucky. It is a fine to medium grained, buff to reddish colored, quartz arenite to sublitharenite. In addition the Corbin is cross-bedded and contains concentrations of rounded quartz pebbles. This study is an attempt to determine the provenance of the Corbin Sandstone Member.

Deposition of the Corbin Sandstone Member of the Lee Formation occurred in the Middle Pennsylvanian. During this time, the Appalachian orogen was being uplifted leading to increased rates of erosion. To the north, erosion of Paleozoic sediments and metamorphic rocks produced large quantities of quartz sand and gravels that were transported southwest by rivers. These rivers were restricted to Eastern Kentucky due to the elevated Cincinnati Arch and Jessamine Dome in central Kentucky. The rivers deposited sediment in a delta plane, which extended across all of eastern Kentucky. As the volume of sediments increased, the streams became braided and spread out across the flood plains leading to the deposition of broad sheets of pebbly sand and gravels, which may be the source of the conglomerate layer at Box Canyon.

Provenance refers to the origin of sedimentary particles. It is a determination of the location and composition of the parent rocks from which sediments were derived. During a mineral survey, eighty eight samples were collected from nine localities across east-central Kentucky. Thin-sections were cut and point counts made of the various types of quartz present in each sample. Two types of quartz grains dominate the assemblage. Monocrystalline quartz showing undulose extinction and polycrystalline grains composed of more than three subunits.

You will be held responsible for your actions while hiking on the trails.

The following acts are prohibited

- Hiking with unleashed pets.

- Carving or damaging rock formations & trees.

- Disturbing, capturing or killing any animal,including venomous snakes.

- Picking flowers or removing any plant material.

- Collecting specimens,including those for research purposes.

- Building fires or backcountry camping.

- Rock climbing and rappelling.

- Riding mountain bikes, ORVs or horses.

- Use of alcoholic beverages.

How do I get to Carter Caves State Park?

From I-64 east. Take exit #161 (Olive Hill exit). Turn left off the exit onto US 60 east. Go approximately 2 miles and turn left on KY 182 north. Park entrance is 3 miles from the left turn onto KY 182 north.

From I-64 west. Take exit #161 (Second Olive Hill exit).Turn right off the exit onto US 60 east. Go approximately 2 miles and turn left on KY 182 north. Park entrance is 3 miles from the left turn onto KY 182 north.

From Cincinnati: Take 275 east to the Wilder exit. You are now on the AA highway (Rt. 9). Follow the AA through Maysville and Vanceburg . At Vanceburg you will go through 2 caution lights, several miles out of Vanceburg you will see another set of caution lights. Turn right onto South 9. (You are still on the AA highway) Follow South 9 for 12 miles to another set of caution lights, turn right onto Rt. 7 & Rt. 2. Follow Rt. 7 to Carter City, turn left onto Rt. 2. Follow Rt. 2 to Rt. 182. Follow Route 182 to the park entrance. The park entrance is on the right at the bottom of a long curvy hill. Drive Time:

Approximately 2 hours 45 minutes.

To get credit for this EC, post a photo of you in front of, inside, or near Wind tunnel and please answer the following questions.

1. How narrow is Wind Tunnel? (width, height)

2. What caused the sandstone boulders to fall from the cliff walls?

Cav Scout has earned GSA's highest level

Do not log this EC unless you have answered the questions and have a picture ready to post! Logs with no photo of the actual cacher logging the find or failure to answer questions or negative comments will result in a log deletion without notice. Exceptions will be considered if you contact me first (I realize sometimes we forget our cameras or the batteries die). You must post a photo at the time of logging your find. If your picture is not ready then wait until you have a photo.

Sources of information for the EarthCache quoted from the Kentucky Geological Society. I have used sources available to me by using google search to get information for this earth cache. I am by no means a geologist.. I use books, internet, and ask questions about geology just like 99.9 percent of the geocachers who create these great Earth Caches. I enjoy Earth Caches and want people to get out and see what I see every time I go and explore this great place we live in.