October 27, 2005 Species and Spaces that Sound Creepy (but really aren't) Week
Destination Thursday: Hell Run in the Deep, Dark Recesses of Hell's HollowHell Run is a small tributary of Slippery Rock Creek, located in the southwestern portion of McConnells Mill State Park. It is a stream with two distinct characters. Beginning in a wetland southeast of New Castle, it flows slowly in a broad, shallow valley. Abruptly, at Hell Run Falls, the stream plunges into a deep, secluded ravine with mature forest and steep sheltering walls that exclude all but the midday sun. The water quality of this stream is high enough for its inclusion on the state list of Exceptional Value streams. Local residents tell the story of a farmhand who tarried too long one evening in the narrow valley. Unable to find his return path, he was trapped by darkness on that moonless night and spent the night surrounded by the sounds of tumbling water and creatures of the forest. The next day he emerged filled with fear, only able to describe his nightlong ordeal as "being in hell." Thus, the valley (Hell's Hollow) and stream (Hell Run) were named. Today's photo of Hells Run Falls show the beauty of the area, but we must caution that this is very rugged territory and may be trecherous as we draw closer to winter. A state park map depicts about two miles of the Slippery Rock Gorge Trail that follows the Hell Run valley from Slippery Rock Creek to a parking area on Shaffer Road. McConnell's Mill
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