Ausable Chasm - Keeseville, NY - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

In Keeseville, along Route 9, is Ausable Chasm, which is a featured stop in the American Guide Series book, New York: A Guide to the Empire State.

The book has the following about Ausable Chasm:

Beneath the bridge spanning the gorge of the Ausable River, 38.9 m., the water plunges 75 feet over a brown rock ledge to form Rainbow Falls at the southern end of the chasm.

Just north of the bridge is the entrance (L) to AUSABLE CHASM (open May-0Oct.; walking tour, 75 cents; tour and boat ride, $1.50; boats do not operate on rainy days because of danger of high water). Privately operated as a tourists' wonderland for 65 years, the chasm is crisscrossed by paths and steel bridges. Galleries cut in the face of the rock high above the river lead around rock formations named Pulpit Rock, Elephant's Head, Devil's Oven, Jacob's Well, Cathedral Rock, and the like. The boats run mild rapids at the norther end of the gorge.
- American Guide Series - New York: A Guide to the Empire State, p. 555

The chasm is still there, and is definitely worthwhile to go through. The visitor center where you purchase tickets is on the east side of the road and river. There are several activity levels. You can go on the "Adventure Trail" where you walk with a guide on precarious bridges and cliff-clinging trails (while strapped in). You can take the Lantern Tour where you can go at night. There are options with inflatable rafts and innertubes. Or, you can just walk on the trail where you can read signs pointing out features and geology. We just walked, which took over an hour, alone. The price, about $18 per person, at first seemed high. However, after seeing the history room of the place, you understand that every few years they have a flood. A few of these floods have filled the entire chasm and ripped out bridges. One of the twisted remains of a bridge is on display outside the visitor center. So, you know that much of the money goes right back to maintaining the property. The paths go both at the top of the gorge and about halfway up. The regular paths have railings and are generally easily walkable - though those afraid of heights will find issues with the ones in the gorge. On one of the bridges, we encountered a mink who was running toward us, then dived off when he reached the end of the bridge. We saw the rafts floating under us, below.

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Book: New York Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 555 Year Originally Published: 1940

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