syncline are exposed in this road cut. Although other exposures may surpass Sideling Hill in either thickness of exposed strata or in quality of geologic structure, few can equal its combination of both. The exposed rocks consist of the Devonian-Mississippian Rockwell Formation, underlying the Mississippian Purslane Sandstone. Rest stop and former exhibit center A highway rest stop, located near the eastern side of the Sideling Hill Road Cut on I-68 west of Hancock, includes a pedestrian bridge crossing I-68, connecting the eastbound and westbound rest areas and offering views of the cut, in which stopping is prohibited. The rest stop formerly included the Sideling Hill Exhibit Center, a four-level geological museum and travel information center which opened in 1991. Due to state budget cuts, this facility was closed on August 15, 2009, as part of a $280 million budget reduction package, saving the state about $110,000 annually. Before its closing, the center served about 95,000 visitors a year. Many of the geological exhibits from the former Exhibit Center are now displayed at the Hancock Museum in nearby Hancock, Maryland. The former exhibit center building was reopened as a welcome center on October 9, 2015. Only part of the facility is open, with the former exhibit center exhibits remaining at the Hancock Museum. National Road (US 40 Scenic) Before construction of I-68, US 40 (now US 40 Scenic), the National Road, crossed Sideling Hill with a steep grade on each side and a sharp hairpin turn at the crest of the mountain. Potomac River Water Gap The water gap cut through Sideling Hill by the Potomac River southwest (upstream) of Hancock, Maryland, provides a low-level crossing of the ridge for the CSX Railroad, formerly the main line of the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad, on the southern (West Virginia) side of the river, and on the northern (Maryland) side, the former Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, now a national historical park, and the former Western Maryland Railroad (now a rail trail). See also Laurel Hill Tunnel Sideling Hill Creek (disambiguation) References External links Ridges of Hampshire County, West Virginia Ridges of Morgan County, West Virginia Landforms of Washington County, Maryland Landforms of Allegany County, Maryland Ridges of Maryland Ridges of Pennsylvania Ridges of West Virginia Valleys of Maryland Water gaps of the United States Landforms of Fulton County, Pennsylvania Ridges of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania