Rock Creek is a 25 mile long tributary that empties into the Kankakee River. Seated approximately 3,100 feet North of IL Rte 102 is Rock Creek Falls. The surrounding gorge has been cut into the 408 to 438 million year old Sularin-age Sugar Run and Joliet Formations of the Niagaran Series. Rock Creek cut this gorge after the Kankakee Torrent receded approximately 12,000 years ago. As the flood waters from the melting glaciers receded, they became more concentrated and shaped the Kankakee River Valley that we know today.
Down cutting was much more rapid along the Kankakee Valley than it was along the valley of Rock Creek. Because of this, Rock Creek became perched above the Kankakee River, and small a waterfall formed at it's mouth. As a result, Rock Creek is in disequilibrium with the Kankakee River and has been trying to establish an equilibrium by cutting down through means of the water dropping over the falls. It is noted that he original waterfall was 40 to 50 feet high and sat .75 miles further downstream when it was first formed. Erosion over the last 1200 years at a rate of 4 inches per year allows the falls to progressively migrate upstream. Eventually, due to the down cutting and the creeks gradient, the falls you see today will be completely eliminated.
The area of Rock Creek that resides inside of the Kankakee River State Park is part of 4000 acres that were established in 1938 to preserve the areas historical significance. Much of the park, including the canyon walls surrounding the waterfall, are made of dolomite and limestone. In comparing the two, they are very similar rocks. They share the same color ranges of white-to-gray and white-to-light brown (although other colors such as red, green and black are possible). They are also approximately the same hardness as each other. Dolomite is very common in the rock record but the mineral dolomite is rarely observed forming in sedimentary environments. For this reason it is believed that most dolomites form when lime muds or limestones are modified by postdepositional chemical change.
Further historical significance of the area:
Rock Creek Waterfall is within a region used by Illini and Miami Indians at the time of the first European contact in the 1670s and 1680s. By 1685 the Miami were sufficiently numerous that the Kankakee River was called the River of the Miami. Kickapoo and Mascouten also were in the region from 1679 until the 1760s. Potawatomi Indians hunted along the Kankakee River and Rock Creek, catching fish near the waterfall itself in the 1760s, and by the 1770s, the Potawatomi, Ottawa and Chippewa nations - "The Three Fires" - dominated the area. The most extensive village was "Rock Village" or "Little Rock Village" inside the present-day park near the mouth of Rock Creek. In 1830 it was the site of the last great Indian Council.
Following the Black Hawk War in 1832, the Potawatomi ceded all of their land along the Kankakee and Illinois rivers to the United States. Most Potawatomi left the area by the end of the decade, except for Chief Shaw-waw-nas-see, whose grave is commemorated by a boulder (N 41° 13.140 W 087° 58.809) along the nature trail at Rock Creek.
Noel Le Vasseur and other fur traders, including Hubbard Chabare and Bourbonnais, traded with the Potawatomi along the Kankakee and Iroquois rivers in the 1820s. When the Potawatomi left the area in 1838, Le Vasseur persuaded a number of his fellow French Canadians to emigrate from Quebec to the Bourbonnais Township area. Because of his settlement efforts, he is called "the father of Kankakee."
Present day: During the summer Rock Creek waterfall is a popular area for local residents that know of its location. The local area also offers hiking, biking, fishing, camping, horseback riding, archery, hunting, and canoeing.
Once you arrive at the posted coordinates there is an observation area. This is identifiable by a park bench with the letters 16A painted on the back. The waterfall itself is outside of the state's property, and DNR has approved this cache asking that one does not travel any further North than the department managed observation area, as it becomes private property owned by Camp Shaw-Waw-Nas-See. Please adhere to the Park Hours and any seasonal closures, as well as any posted No Trespassing and No Swimming signs. I encourage you to post pictures of your peaceful nature hike, and come back to claim finds with the change of each season. In doing so you will see how the falls go from flooding in the Spring, to a beautiful flow in the late Summer and early Fall, then frozen over in the Winter.
How to claim the Find:
**Please post your find on the cache page and then send us the answers to the following questions. Please do not post any answers on the cache page itself. One email per group is fine!
1. Based on your observation of the areas noted on the above map, estimate the height of the canyon walls surrounding Rock Creek Falls
2. Above it was noted that melting glaciers and water current flowing from high to low carved out the gorge and waterfall that we see today. What other natural forces do you believe played a part in the erosion of the canyon walls surrounding the waterfall?
3. Dolomite is found in a small range of colors. Based on your observation of the falls and surrounding canyon walls, which of the above color schemes are found at the actual Earth a Cache site?