Clear Fork Gorge was formed fourteen to twenty-four thousand years ago when glacial meltwater cut through the sandstone bedrock that forms its steep walls. The gorge is one thousand feet wide and over three hundred feet deep. Its seclusion has preserved a rare forest community that includes native white pine and towering eastern hemlock. A National Natural Landmark, the gorge contains a wide variety of other tree species more common throughout the state, with sycamore on the bottomlands, beech, ash, and tulip farther up the slope, and oak and maple on the ridges above. The gorge has changed little since pioneer legend Johnny Appleseed tended his apple orchards nearby.