Ausable Chasm facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ausable Chasm |
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Ausable Chasm
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 Ausable Chasm
Location in New York
Ausable Chasm
Location in the United States
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| Length | 2 miles (3.2 km) |
| Depth | 150 miles (240 km) |
| Geology | |
| Age | 10,000 years old |
| Geography | |
| Location | Keeseville, New York |
| Country | United States |
| Rivers | Ausable River |
Ausable Chasm is a super cool sandstone gorge (a deep, narrow valley) and a popular place to visit. It's located in New York, near a small town called Keeseville. This amazing gorge is about two miles (3.2 km) (3.2 km) long and around 150 feet (46 m) (46 meters) deep!
The Ausable River flows right through the chasm and then into Lake Champlain, which is about one mile (1.6 km) away. This incredible gorge started forming about 10,000 years ago! It was carved out by a waterfall called Rainbow Falls, which is 91 feet (28 m) tall. Ausable Chasm is a famous landmark and a major tourist spot in the Adirondacks region of Upstate New York.
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How Ausable Chasm Was Formed
Ausable Chasm was carved out of Potsdam Sandstone, a type of rock that is about 500 million years old! This sandstone is 520 feet (160 m) thick. The sandstone here was once ancient tidal flats (flat areas covered by ocean tides). You can still see cool things like ripple marks (from ancient water), ichnofossils (like ancient footprints), and even rare Scyphomedusae jellyfish fossils from the middle of the Cambrian period.
The chasm itself began to form at the end of the Last Glacial Period, about 10,000 years ago. Before the gorge formed, huge sheets of ice called the Laurentide ice sheet moved across the land. They carved deep cliffs in the Champlain Valley. When the ice melted, it created a huge body of water called the Champlain Sea. This sea covered the area where the chasm is now.
The real carving of Ausable Chasm started when the land slowly rose up after the heavy ice sheets melted. This caused the Champlain Sea to shrink. The Ausable River, which had a lot more water back then from the melting ice, began to cut down through the loose soil and rocks. Once the river reached the hard Potsdam Sandstone, it fell over a buried cliff, creating the first Rainbow Falls.
As the waterfall slowly moved backward (a process called headward erosion), the river used natural cracks in the sandstone. This made the river follow a sharp, zig-zag path. The horizontal layers of sandstone are very strong and resist erosion, which helped make the gorge so deep and narrow. Over the next 10,000 years, the river sometimes changed its path. It left behind old riverbeds called "paleochannels." Two of these, the "Big Dry Chasm" and "Little Dry Chasm," can be explored by visitors today, along with the main gorge.
Today, Ausable Chasm is a box canyon, which means it has very steep, straight sides. Rainbow Falls has carved a two miles (3.2 km) long gorge from its original spot to where the visitor's center is now. The gorge isn't changing much anymore because a dam was built upstream, and some water is diverted away from Rainbow Falls. Some cool rock formations in the chasm have special names, like Jacob's Well (a large hole in the rock), the Cathedral, The Devil's Oven (a cave), Elephant's Head, The Flume, Sentinel Rock, and Table Rock.
Ausable Chasm's Past
Scientists have found signs that Native American people lived near Ausable Chasm a long time ago. In the 1600s, the land around the chasm was a disputed area between the Mohawk people and Algonquian tribes. Native Americans left the area around 1810.
In 1760, a person named Major John Howe explored the chasm using ropes. Five years later, in 1765, an early Irish settler named William Gilliland saw the chasm while exploring Lake Champlain. He wrote in his journal that the gorge looked like a "regular built wall" and that it was an "admirable sight." He thought it might have been caused by an earthquake.
Even though Gilliland's settlement was destroyed during the American Revolutionary War, the growth of the logging industry helped the area around the gorge grow. This led to the creation of the village of Keeseville. The first bridge across the chasm, made of logs and boards, was built in 1793. Later, in the late 1800s, Rainbow Falls was used to power a factory that made horse nails. This factory closed in 1925. In 1925, the AuSable Chasm Bridge was built. It carries US 9 over the Ausable River at the southern end of the chasm.
Visiting Ausable Chasm
Formal tourism at the chasm began in 1873. A group of businessmen from Philadelphia formed the Ausable Company. They offered tours of the chasm by bateau (a type of boat) for 25 cents. They also built wooden walkways for visitors. Over the years, many famous people visited the chasm, including Thomas Edison, John D. Rockefeller, Harvey Firestone, and Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. In 1897, the president at the time, William McKinley, visited and even rode the rapids on the Ausable River! Later, silent movies were filmed at the chasm, sometimes using it as a dramatic background for stunts. A large hotel, the Hotel AuSable Chasm, was built in 1890 to house tourists, but it burned down in 1950.
In 1996, the chasm was hit by two big floods. The first flood in January was caused by a lot of snow melting quickly in the Adirondack Mountains. This damaged the tourist areas around the chasm, but they were rebuilt and made stronger. However, in November, another flood happened due to heavy rainfall. This "100-year flood" destroyed the newly strengthened areas. After the second flood, most of the walking trails in the chasm were moved to higher ground to keep them safe.
Today, Ausable Chasm is advertised as the "Grand Canyon of the Adirondacks." You can visit it after paying a fee. There are five miles of trails that go around and inside the chasm. You can also try exciting activities like rock climbing, whitewater rafting, and a via ferrata (a climbing path with fixed cables and ladders).
Other Cool Things to See
- North Star Underground Railroad Museum: This museum tells the story of the Underground Railroad, a secret network that helped enslaved people find freedom. It's operated by the North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association and is located on Mace Chasm Road in Ausable Chasm, New York.
Gallery
- Pictures from 1907 postcards
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Lookout Point
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Rainbow Falls
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Hotel Ausable Chasm
