Honeycomb Rocks is named for the unique boxwork patterns found in numerous boulders along Tea Creek Mountain in the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia.
About 340 million years ago, water and wind deposited grains of sand along what later became Tea Creek Mountain. The layers of sand eventually formed sandstone, bound by kaolinite, a type of cement. About 200 million years ago, the sandstone along Tea Creek Mountain experienced strong forces of pushing and pulling. The stress of the movements caused the rock to fracture.
Over many years, water flowed through the sandstone fractures, carrying the iron mineral hematite through the cracks in the sandstone. It eventually hardened, forming a unique lattice pattern.
Captivated by the unique geologic conditions, Governor Cecil Underwood hiked to Honeycomb Rocks from the headwaters of the Williams River in 1961. Former Governor Underwood’s trek inspired the creation of the Honeycomb Rocks Trail decades later.
