The Tuscarora Sandstone exposed in the core of the regional Wills Mountain anticline displays multiple smaller-scale parasitic folds. Field and thin-section observations indicate that fold-accommodation faults with small displacements (<1 m), mesoscopic deformation bands, and microfractures are more prevalent in the hinge zones of these parasitic folds when compared with the adjacent fold limbs. Detailed investigation of grain-scale brittle deformation structures across a parasitic fold indicates that deformation bands, microveins, and microcracks increase in abundance from the fold limb to the hinge zone. Microstylolites, the result of pressure solution, show no increase in abundance from the limb to hinge zone. Although both brittle and pressure-solution mechanisms were active during deformation, folding of the Tuscarora Sandstone into the Wills Mountain anticline was accomplished principally by wedge faults and microfractures operating within the hinge zones of the smaller-scale parasitic folds. The location of these parasitic folds influenced significantly the overall fold geometry of the Wills Mountain anticline.