John Boyd Thacher State Park is a state park located 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Albany, New York, near Voorheesville, in Albany County on State Route 157. Located mostly atop the Helderberg Escarpment, the park has several hiking trails that offer panoramic views of the Green Mountains in Vermont and the Taconic Mountains of the Hudson Valley.

Description

thumb|Entrance sign

alt=|thumb|Tory cave sign

The Indian Ladder Trail is open from early summer to mid- November, 8:00 am until sunset, weather permitting. All other trails are open year-round. It is located on the Helderberg Escarpment, one of the most fossiliferous formations in the US. There are over 12 miles (20 km) of trails in the park including the famous Indian Ladder Trail. It contains volleyball courts, children’s play areas and numerous cooking and barbecue areas both open and covered.

Nearby at Thompson's Lake, is the Emma Treadwell Thacher Nature Center, which opened in July 2001 and has permanent and occasional displays for the public to view. The center also offers educational programs and visitor information.

From the top of the escarpment, which reaches 1300 ft (400 m), there are views of the Hudson and Mohawk Valleys as well as panoramas of the Adirondacks and Green Mountains of Vermont.

History

The history of the park area dates back around 400 years to a time when the trail now known as the Indian Ladder Trail was used by the Mohawk Iroquois Indians to reach the trading post run by the Dutch.

thumb|Tory Cave sign

It was here that in 1777, at a spot known as Tory Cave, Jacob Salsbury found refuge from settlers during the Burgoyne Invasion.

The region is very well drained as all surface water runs into the limestone, making it an infertile area for farming. There are some fertile areas along the streams. Dutch settlers were brought in to the region by Patroons to whom they paid heavy rents until they freed themselves of the burden through the so-called Helderberg War (also called the Anti-Rent War) of 1839.

The park is named after Albany mayor John Boyd Thacher whose widow, Emma Treadwell Thacher, donated the land in 1914. Since its opening the area was designated as a State Park. The park soon became popular with the residents of Upstate New York and many amenities were added. The purchase of 500 acres (2&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) of land in 2004 with a State grant of $750.00 from the Environmental Protection Fund and a donation of land from the Nature Conservancy of 81 acres (320,000 m<sup>2</sup>) and the further purchase of on 3 August 2006 took the total area of the park to .

It is most likely that the most prominent feature of the park, the Helderberg Escarpment, got its name from the Dutch Helder meaning bright or light and Berg meaning mountain.

Upon learning Paterson's intentions, the people and local governments of New York began a collaborative effort to advocate for the budget to be amended to keep John Boyd Thacher State Park, as well as many other parks and historical sites open for the enjoyment of the people. They have used Facebook, Twitter, a website and petitions as tools to help them show their discontent and become more organized in their efforts to stop the park's closure.

Pressure from the public and from some members of the State Legislature resulted in a reversal of the closure proposal. State Senate leaders held a press conference on March 24, 2010 at the capitol, where they said $11.5 million would be restored to the budget to keep parks open.

Trails

There are over 12 miles (20&nbsp;km) of trails in the park, the most famous trail being the Indian Ladder Trail.

Indian Ladder Trail

From the Indian Ladder parking lot, the visitor descends 60&nbsp;ft (18 m) to the base of the escarpment via a metal staircase. From here the trail follows the base of the escarpment passing under the Minelot Falls and by the stream exiting from a small cave in the base of the rocks. This water is actually from Thompson Lake, is a long-distance hiking trail begun in the 1960s. The trail runs from the George Washington Bridge in New York City and ends at Thacher Park, a distance of 347.35 miles (559.01&nbsp;km)

Natural history

The park is designated as a wildlife preserve. There are strict regulations on the non-removal of fossils, rocks, plants, animals and birds from the park. There are also rules on the use of snowmobiles during winter and damage to the park. Breach of the regulations can lead to prosecution.

Birds

thumb|Turkey vulture soaring above the park

thumb|Turkey vulture above the trees at the park

In April 2004,

There are some 171 species of bird to be seen in the park, many of which are in the "of concern" status. These include:

  • Sharp-shinned hawk (Accipiter striatus)
  • Northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis)
  • Eagle
  • Golden-winged warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera)
  • Cooper's hawk (Accipiter cooperii)
  • Hermit thrush (Catharus guttatus)
  • Winter wren (Troglodytes hiemalis)
  • Black-throated blue warbler (Dendroica caerulescens)
  • Black-throated green warbler (Dendroica virens)
  • Louisiana (Seiurus motacilla) and northern (Seiurus noveboracensis) waterthrushes
  • Canada warbler (Wilsonia canadensis)
  • Worm-eating warbler (Helmitheros vermivorus)
  • Common raven (Corvus corax)
  • Red winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)

Plants

There is also a prolific variety of flowers, plants and trees within the park.

  • Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida)
  • Rock elm (Ulmus thomasii)
  • Snowberry(Symphoricarpos albus)
  • Hairy honeysuckle (Lonicera hirsuta)
  • Purple virgin's-bower (Clematis occidentalis)

Ferns and their relations are also found in cool damp areas especially along Indian Ladder Trail.

  • Walking fern (Asplenium rhizophyllum)
  • Purple-stemmed cliff brake (Pellaea atropurpurea)
  • Slender rock brake (Cryptogramma stelleri)
  • Maidenhair spleenwort (Asplenium trichomanes)
  • Wall-rue spleenwort (Asplenium ruta-muraria)

Geology

The Helderberg Plateau comprises a series of limestones of early Devonian age and is one of the most fossiliferous regions in the United States. In the 1800s, some of the world's most renowned pioneering geologists, such as Charles Lyell and Amos Eaton, visited this location due to its robust fossil assemblage. During this time James Hall, New York's first state paleontologist, frequently visited the Helderberg Escarpment, making observations and documenting the unique fossil assemblage. In the 1930s, Winifred Goldring, New York's state paleontologist and the first female state paleontologist in the nation, continued the work of pioneering geologists and in 1933 wrote a guide to Thacher State Park that is still in use to this day.

The escarpment features rocks of the Upper Silurian and Upper and Middle Ordovician ages resting below the Devonian rocks.