Stop 17

This rock ledge is formed by an outcropping of the “Cottonwood limestone”, which provided the traditional building material in this part of the Flint Hills.

We see trees growing along this ledge of stone, not because there’s water IN the stone, but because there’s water UNDER the stone. The shale under the limestone is denser and water pools on top of it. Trees tap into this pooled water and grow up around the limestone above – sometimes growing THROUGH the limestone cracks.