Paul Smith's College VIC | Explore Nature in the Adirondack Mountains
The High Knob Landform
Description: Explore Adirondack nature trails and learn about the habitats, wildlife, and plants of the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. The six-million acre Adirondack Park, including public lands constitutionally protected to remain “forever wild,” offers an opportunity to explore and enjoy nature.
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The six-million acre Adirondack Park in upstate New York is probably the most accessible place to explore nature in the northeastern US. The Park's many nature trails and backcountry hiking trails offer opportunities to learn about the habitats, wildlife, and plants of the Adirondack Mountains. The landscape we see as we gaze out over lake, pond, river, wetland, or forest is a fleeting snapshot of a changing environment.
The geologic history of the Adirondacks has two major chapters: the doming of the Adirondacks which created the mountain range, and the subsequent sculpting of those mountains by glaciers during the Pleistocene epoch (Ice Age).
After the glaciers that sculpted the Adirondacks retreated some 13,000 years ago, glacial ice was replaced by tundra, then by boreal forests. These boreal forests were later replaced by a mix of boreal and temperate forests that comprised the Adirondack wilderness of the early 17th century, when European settlers arrived in the New World. A harsh climate and poor soil had discouraged the Native Americans who occupied the valleys around the mountains from permanent residence in the mountains and initially in
Paul Smith's College VIC | Explore Nature in the Adirondack Mountains
The High Knob Landform