Welcome back to National Parks and other public lands with T!
Journey through the Grand Canyon of the Adirondacks»
Ausable Chasm is privately owned land within the boundaries of Adirondack State Park. The gorge cut through the rock by the Ausable River is known as the Grand Canyon as the Adirondacks. We traveled to the area for a day trip while staying in Lake Placid.
Matthew Adgate was granted this land around the Ausable River in 1792 as compensation for his service in the Revoutionary War. He harnessed the power of the rushing water to build an industrial town and ironworks. This settlement was renamed Birmingham Falls in the 1800s during the Industrial Revolution.
After the Civil War, the chasm began attracting tourists and the iron industry gave way to the tourism industry. Established in 1870, Ausable Chasm Park was one of the country’s first natural attractions, predating the nation’s oldest state park, Niagara Falls. People flocked to the area and grand hotels were built to accommodate them.
When the Northway (Interstate 87) was built, bypassing Route 9, the Chasm lost a lot of visitors. Still, the attraction continues to operate, adding more experiences like rappelling and rock climbing to attract more paying clientele.
We took the Classic Tour, which was a mile hike along the upper chasm and its roiling waters to a landing at a gentler part of the river. There, we boarded a raft and took a narrated float down the lower chasm. At the lower dock, we continued our hike up the Rim Trail and through some dry side canyons.
Lake Placid Posts:
- Olympic Boblsed Complex
- Olympic Ski Jump Complex
- Olympic Center
- High Falls Gorge
- Little Whiteface
- Whiteface Mountain
- Rainbow Falls
- Ausable Chasm
Location: 2144 U.S. 9, Ausable Chasm, NY 12911
Designation: Privately owned land within State Park
Date of my visit: 7/29/2011
A beautiful park to explore! Thanks for sharing, T. Hope you are well.
Thanks!
Wow. That looks amazing. Great photos.
Thanks!
Ah man, I wish I’d known this existed when I was in the area a few years back. We saw the Ausable River, but not this part of it.
Someone I know, who fly fishes up there, knew about this attraction…which is how I found out.
Beautiful! Thanks!!
Thanks!
In all of my travels throughout NYS including the Adirondacks, Plattsburgh and the west coast of Lake Champlain I missed this gem. Sounds like a nice stop during slower paced road trip of this area. Thanks for the enlightenment, Stewart
It is a vast area with so many places to see. I’m sure I haven’t been to a fraction of the places you’ve been
It looks like a beautiful place to visit. Is the hike a loop?
My memory on that is hazy, but it must have been or we wouldn’t have made it back to the parking lot. There weren’t any shuttles that I recall
What an exciting place to visit. Nice images.
Thanks!
We visited Audible Chasm in August when we went for a long weekend in Lake Placid. Great Place
Did you tube? That looked like so much fun
Unfortunately no, because of Covid the tubing wasn’t operating.
That looks like fun! Beautiful photos. –Curt
Thanks!