Located 12 miles (19 km) east of Newark near the tiny town of Toboso, 957 acres (387 ha) along the gorge were designated an Ohio Nature Preserve in 1975.

The gorge is a capsule of Ohio transportation history, having hosted canal boats, steam railroads, electric interurbans, and automobiles through the years.

Black Hand Sandstone is a resistant rock that also forms the backbone of the Hocking Hills region.

Beginning in the early 19th century, Anglo-European settlers used it as a transportation route through the hilly east-central Ohio landscape.

The loser amputated his own hand in shame and threw it off one of the gorge's cliffs (possibly above the current location of the railroad tunnel), creating a hand-shaped mark on the rock.

Other petroglyphs survived until 1890, many recorded by Dr. James Salisbury and his brother Charles, of Newark, who deposited their tracings and notes with the American Antiquarian Society in Massachusetts.

The Indians needed something sharp on the tips of their arrows to kill their prey and flint was chosen for this purpose.

The legends say that the "Great Father" called the tribes together on a council rock not far from Flint Ridge.

The chiefs all sat in a big circle and the "Great Father" told them when they were in the pits, no more blood could be shed.

The canal came through this area in 1828 and the part of the rock that contained the remains of the hand, was blasted away to make room for the towpath.

An inlet lock then connected the canal to the Licking River, which due to the sandstone formations, was the only way to get through the Blackhand Gorge.

An outlet lock near the dam allowed the canal boats to exit the Licking River and continue on their way.

In 1958 the construction of Dillon Dam and its resulting reservoir on the Licking River required that the tracks through the gorge be abandoned for a new route.

Unfortunately, the reservoir formed by the dam completely submerged Claylick and required that most of the town of Toboso be torn down.

Opposition to the project was fierce for that reason, but the benefits of the dam served a wide constituency and construction was not prevented.