Ausable Chasm is a

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

gorge A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

and tourist attraction located near the hamlet of Keeseville,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, United States. It is directly due west of Port Kent. The

Ausable River Au Sable or Ausable may refer to various places: Michigan *Au Sable Township, Iosco County, Michigan **Au Sable, Michigan, an unincorporated community in the above township *Au Sable Township, Roscommon County, Michigan New York *Au Sable, New Y ...

runs through it and then empties into

Lake Champlain , native_name_lang = , image = Champlainmap.svg , caption = Lake Champlain-River Richelieu watershed , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = New York/Vermont in the United States; and Quebec in Canada , coords = , type = , ...

. The gorge is about long and is a tourist attraction in the

Adirondacks The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular d ...

region of

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

. It is fed by the Rainbow Falls at its southern extreme.

Geological formation

Geologically simple, the Ausable Gorge was carved out of 500 million-year-old Potsdam Sandstone from the Cambrian Period. Since the end of the

Pleistocene Epoch The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

ice age 10,000 years ago, the movement and subsequent melting of

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...

s created a series of caves and tunnels, which the Ausable River linked up and exploited on its journey to Lake Champlain. During this time, the headward erosion of ancestral Rainbow Falls led to its location today, where the visitor's center was built. The chasm has a continuous exposure of a section of

Potsdam Sandstone The Potsdam Sandstone, more formally known as the Potsdam Group, is a geologic unit of mid-to-late Cambrian age found in Northern New York and northern Vermont and Quebec and Ontario. A well-cemented sandstone of nearly pure quartz, in the 19th ce ...

more than thick, which includes a rare, mid-Cambrian Scyphomedusae jellyfish fossil. Some of the rock formations have been given names such as Cathedral, The Devil's Oven, Elephant's Head, The Flume, Sentinel Rock, and Table Rock.

Tourism

In 1760, Major John Howe explored the chasm on ropes. Five years later, Irish settler William Gilliland wrote about the Chasm in his journal: "It is a most admirable sight, appearing on each side like a regular built wall, somewhat ruinated, and one would think that this prodigious clift was occasioned by an earthquake, their height on each side is from 40 to 100 feet in the different places; we saw about a half a mile of it, and by its appearance where we stopped it may continue very many miles further." Called by some the "Little Grand Canyon of the East", the chasm opened to the public in 1870.

Cultural attractions

*North Star Underground Railroad Museum, commemorating the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

and operated by the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association, is on Mace Chasm Road in Ausable Chasm, New York on County Route 71, south of the junction of County Route 373 and U.S. 9.

Gallery

Image:AusableChasmPointLookout.JPG , Lookout Point Image:RainbowFallsAusableChasm.JPG , Rainbow Falls Image:HotelAusableChasm.JPG , Hotel Ausable Chasm

References

External links

Official website of Ausable Chasm

Official website of the North Star Underground Railroad Museum
Landmarks in New York (state) Landforms of Clinton County, New York Tourist attractions in Clinton County, New York Canyons and gorges of New York (state) {{ClintonCountyNY-geo-stub