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An explorer's walking guide to downstate New York's awesome boulders and rock formations.
Downstate New York Rock Walks is both a hiking guidebook and a history book, calling attention to some of downstate New York's most spectacular and historic rocks: balanced rocks, perched rocks, rock shelters, talus caves, glacial potholes, split rocks, rock profiles, historic rocks, and massive, larger-than-life boulders.
Many large glacial erratics have a history going back thousands of years to when they were moved to their present location by advancing glaciers. Many served as points of navigational reference at a time when the landscape was featureless and heavily forested, and still others were ceremonial sites for Native Americans. Rock shelters and talus caves have also been used for thousands of years by Native Americans and Europeans seeking refuge from the elements. It is important that these amazing natural wonders of stone be remembered and recorded before they are lost to collective memory or destroyed by the encroachment of civilization.
Providing precise GPS location information along with length and degree of difficulty for each hike, Downstate New York Rock Walks will appeal to casual hikers, serious rock explorers, historians, geologists, and anyone wishing to explore some of nature's greatest wonders within the reach of the lower Hudson River valley.
"…if anyone has an interest in the topic, this is the book to read, because no one is ever going to publish a more complete book on rock walks in downstate New York. Dunn has the last word on the topic." — H-Net Reviews (H-Environment)
"Russell Dunn, who has written many, many books taking us outdoors throughout our region, commonly to see waterfalls, has done it again. He has written a book about rocks, lots of them. He claims it is about 'boulders and unusual rock formations,' but it is far more than that. If it is made of rock and is interesting, then it is fair game for this book Somehow, he has amassed a list of notable boulders, caves, outcrops, etc. in our region and researched them all. He takes you to each one and tells you all about them. None of us will ever get to see them all, but we will all want to try. This is the perfect gift for your rockhound friend or your rockhound self." — Robert Titus, coauthor of The Hudson Valley in the Ice Age
List of Illustrations
Introduction
East Side of Hudson River
Dutchess County
Putnam County
Westchester County
The Bronx
Nassau County
Manhattan
Queens
Staten Island (Richmond County)
Long Island (Suffolk County)
West Side of Hudson River
Orange County
Sullivan County
Rockland County
Harriman State Park and the Palisades
Harriman State Park: Northern Section
Harriman State Park: Southern Section
Bergen County
The Palisades
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Bibliography
Index