Winter is the best time to observe the remnants of the gypsum mining operations once present in the area which has become Oatka Creek Park. These ruins were some of the processing facilities of the Lycoming Calcinating Company near Garbutt. The existence of this park can be largely credited to the fact that most of the land now in the park is tunneled with abandoned gypsum mines. This makes the area relatively unsuitable for commercial development but ideal as a nature park. Many of the sunken trenches and pits around the park are not from surface excavation alone but from the collapse of the underground tunnels where gypsum was mined.
Gypsum was formed when ancient oceans covered this region and deposited material in strata which at this site consist of two parallel layers. One layer is near creek level and the other is at a higher elevation. This is a unique geology for gypsum deposits.
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