Huecos

Gorge Geology!! The Gorge is an amazing place and there are so many cool things around every corner! We happened upon these HUGE “huecos” while out hiking along the Rough Trail one day. The path to these is unofficial/unmarked, branching off of the Rough Trail right before some scrambling up some boulders to connect up to Grays Arch Trail. If you want to know more information about the hike/location, listen to the podcast episode “Spice and Tidbits” where we cover this!

The Red River Gorge is predominantly made up of sandstone rocks. Within this sandstone was siderite concretions. The siderite chemically reacted with the components of water and was dissolved over time, leaving behind spherical bodies. These bodies were then rapidly weathered, leaving behind holes! The huge holes you see here are called “huecos”. Pretty neat!

As always, please Leave No Trace when visiting these areas! Do not burn a campfire inside this “hueco”. Do not spray paint inside or around this area! Also, be careful whenever you are using something to climb that was not put there by you. You never know how it was constructed or how long it has been out there exposed to the elements. Thankfully, the ladder we found was in tact and held our weight, but the first step was obviously showing wear. Be safe!