Stock Creek Trail

The Stock Creek Trail provides a gentle yet geologically rich exploration of the creek valley that is directly responsible for carving Natural Tunnel over millions of years of limestone dissolution. The trail follows Stock Creek downstream from the tunnel area, winding through a shaded hollow where the creek tumbles over limestone shelves and collects in clear green pools that support healthy populations of native brook trout and crayfish. Interpretive signage along the route explains the karst geology underlying the entire park landscape, including how slightly acidic creek water dissolved the Copper Ridge Dolomite formation to create the tunnel and numerous smaller caves in the surrounding hillsides. The trail climbs partway up the canyon wall to reach a dramatic overlook directly above the natural tunnel entrance, providing a stunning aerial perspective of the limestone portal and active railroad tracks below. Virginia pine and eastern red cedar cling to the rocky cliff faces above the creek, while sycamore and river birch line the streamside corridor. The return loop passes through second-growth mixed hardwood forest recovering from decades of grazing. Spring ephemerals including trout lily, hepatica, and bloodroot bloom profusely along the creek banks in April. White-tailed deer and wild turkey are common sightings throughout the valley.