Best for:
The unpolished hiker, film nerds who appreciate cult-classics, fungi fanatics, and those seeking a visceral dialogue with the ancient, iron-stained bones of Ohio.
Act I Deep Inside Butternut Cave-
The Seasonal Labyrinth:
Luna and I experienced the transition from winter to spring in Ohio at Malabar Farm State Park, on Thursday March 25th. The weather here is never a straight path. The seasonal attitude of the weather here is a jagged, beautiful cycle of end of season sudden snowfalls followed by 69°F heatwaves. You never know what Ohio will hand you.
Butternut Trail:
Picking up where the morning left off, Luna and I moved from Doris woods trail to our car and toward the Pugh Cabin. This is a 1940 log home built by Jim Pugh, a neighbor and close friend of Louis Bromfield, the original owner of Malabar Farm. While this cabin is globally recognized as the cinematic site where Andy Dufresne’s wife was murdered in The Shawshank Redemption, the real story today was written in the vibrant orange Black Hand Sandstone and the cold, reviving spray of Ferguson Falls.
I thought I was parking in the wrong spot again. Yes, the same place that it sent me when looking for the Doris Duke trailhead but, this time, the large gravel lot by the Pugh Cabin and the maple syrup cabin was where we needed to be.
The area was swarming with at least six Natural Resource Officers. Whether it was a convention or a massive shift change, their trucks lined the trail past a few more cute little cabins, along the trail.
The Geology:
Butternut Cave part of the larger Rock City outcropping in Malabar Farms. This is a masterclass in Black Hand Sandstone formations. This rocky outcrop formed roughly 350 million years ago during the Mississippian Period. This type of stone is named after a famous Indigenous petroglyph near Newark, Ohio.
This was created by a massive ancient river delta system depositing quartz and iron-rich sediment into a shallow sea. The high concentration of iron oxide is what gives the walls their iconic, beautiful, burnt orange and deep red hues.
The Skylights:
I spent the afternoon maneuvering through around the sky lights in rock city’s roof, after walking around inside. These are natural erosion holes in the cave roof. This cave is a rare periglacial feature, meaning it was sculpted roughly 14,000 years ago by the intense freezing and thawing cycles at the edge of the Wisconsinian Glacier.
As water seeped into the sandstone joints and froze, then it expanded through frost wedging, eventually causing up to 100-foot sections of the ceiling to collapse into the skylights in the roof of the cave that we explored today.
The Ice Ghost:
Luna and I felt the cool wind blowing from yards away from the cave mouth. Once in the mouth of the cave, the air temperature drops what feels like twenty degrees.
I found flat, massive ice formation on the cave floor under one low lying, ceiling. I was spooked at first since the frozen almost transparent ice patch looked like a humongous spiderweb. Yet one of the last frozen remnant of the snow that fell just last week, still trapped in the cave’s natural refrigeration.
Honeycomb Weathering:
The walls of the cave here show heavy tafoni or honeycomb weathering. This occurs when salt crystallization or differential erosion eats away at the softer pockets of the sandstone faster than the iron-cemented Liesegang bands. This is what created the intricate holes that look like fairy houses tucked into the rock.
Act II: Ferguson Falls
All Gas & No Brakes
The trek to Ferguson Falls is a brutal, unshaded incline that felt like a physical dialogue with the earth. Luna and I attempted this same trail in the Febuary shin-deep snow, turning back after losing trail and dog boots many times. By 12:20 PM, the sun was beating down with an intensity that felt wrong for March, making the destination a necessity rather than a luxury.
These two trails were marked as a loop, however I now see they share the same parking lot and different trailheads. The trailhead at Malabar Farm State Park for Ferguson Falls is at the bottom of a steep access road, gravel of course.
The Reset:
After the early spring heated up my skin, I needed to soak my hair with Luna so, I stood under the freezing spray. The descent to this waterfall was worth every second of the soul cleansing chill it provided.
This is a recess cave waterfall. Geologically, it occurs because the hard Black Hand Sandstone caprock sits on top of the much softer Fairfield Member of the Cuyahoga Shale. Over centuries, the falling water splashes back and erodes the shale much faster than the sandstone, creating a hollowed-out “recess” behind the curtain of water.
Folklore & Marker Trees:
Along the trail, I encountered a skinny tree bent into a perfect arch. In Appalachian folklore, these are “Portal Trees” or spirit gates.
Historically, many of these are known as Marker Trees (or Trail Trees) these saplings were intentionally bent and tied down by Indigenous peoples, such as the Shawnee or Wyandot. Tying these down created living navigation signs pointing toward water, safe crossings, or sacred sites. While nature can mimic this through snow-loading, the specific “elbow” and “nose” of a true marker tree is a cultural relic of the land.
Act III –
The Summit at Mount Jeez:
Luna and I ended our trip to Malabar Farm State Park the day at Mount Jeez Overlook. This spot is the highest point in the park at an elevation of 1,234 feet. The history of this hill is a story of total redemption.
When we came here in Febuary the gate was closed and the road unplowed. Upon driving to the top with Luna today, I am glad I decided against walking up it in the snow that day.
Another vehicle with a dog in tow too arrived just as we did, so Luna and I sat in the air conditioning and enjoyed our view while the other visitors poked around the massive 360 degree view.
Poverty’s Knob:
Before Louis Bromfield returned to Ohio in 1939, this hill was known as “Poverty’s Knob.” The soil was so depleted from a century of poor farming practices that it was considered “worn out” and worthless, unable to even grow weeds. Bromfield used his “New Agriculture” techniques such as contour plowing and “trash mulch” farming—to heal the land. Thus changing the outlook of the land in the area and successully starting what would eventually become Malabar Farm State Park.
The Name Mount Jeez:
The name “Mount Jeez” was coined by Bromfield’s business manager, George Hawkins. When visitors arrived at the Big House looking for the famous author, Hawkins would point toward the summit and say, “He’s up there,” often followed by a “Jeez!” at the effort required to climb it.
Through time a lot of visitors to the peak often have an awe-struck reaction to the vastly beautiful view once at the overlooks peak. All you can see are the rolling foot hills and patchwork farmlands that make up much of Ohio’s terrain.
The Glacial View:
From the top, the 360-degree view of the Pleasant Valley, in Richland county, Ohio shows the exact path of the Wisconsinian Glacier. The glacier stalled just miles from here, leaving behind the silty loam and gravelly moraines. THe minerals left behind provideded the rich foundation for Bromfield’s agricultural revolution. After I sat there in the AC waiting, I found more heart-shaped quartzite rocks in the gravel while watching the valley below.
Malabar Farm State Park
Everything has a cycle: of life, death, winning, and losing. Today, for Luna and I won. The spring trail reminded us that regeneration is always just one thaw away. Hopefully, you don’t have to wait to much time between your winning times.
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