History, Natural History & the Arts
1,300 acres of forest and grasslands in the Taconic Mountains in the town of Berlin, Rensselaer County, has been protected by the State of New York.
The recent acquisition will connect the Taconic Ridge and Berlin State Forests, preserve open space, and expand recreational opportunities. [Read more…] about 1,300 Acres Protected in Taconic Mountains
On the Hudson River along upstate New York’s eastern border, within the natural boundaries of river and mountains, lies the rough rectangle of Rensselaer County. It is bisected by the Poesten Kill,* a powerful stream that scours its way from the mountains to the sea level flats of the Hudson River at Troy.
The Poesten Kill splits the county across the middle into two pieces of roughly equal size, north and south. From its source at about 1,600 feet in the Taconic Mountains, to the village which bears its name, it’s a smaller steam tumbling over forested rocks and ledges, and forming pools and small waterfalls. At the village of Poestenkill it begins to meander across a 10-mile wide plateau of farmlands before falling abruptly through a series of steep gorges at Troy to settle into the Hudson. [Read more…] about The Poestenkill: Mountains, Waterfalls and Waterworks