The lower ridge before Hanging Rock was once a continuation of the Hanging Rock ridge and was capped with the same quartzite rock outcrops that form Hanging Rock itself, offering a preview of what Hanging Rock will look like in the distant future. Between 250 and 500 million years ago, this land was pushed up as the continents moved toward each other, and older, harder rocks were sometimes pushed up and over younger, softer rocks. Weathering and erosion gave the ridge its distinctive shape, and as the softer rocks eroded away from beneath the quartzite cap, large quartzite rocks fell to the base as the geologic processes continued. Hanging Rock today is approximately 2150 feet above sea level, with the rock outcrop itself rising 175 feet from the base where large quartzite boulders are found.