The Chautauqua gorge is a hikers paradise and each view is stunning in each season. It’s one of my favorite places to go and relax and enjoy the beauty of nature. The gorge is popular in the spring and summer for hiking, picnics and swimming and in the fall for its stunning foliage. In the winter those adventurous souls use the area for cross country skiing and snow shoeing.
(photo courtesy of: Chautauqua gorge first swimming hole)
The Chautauqua Gorge is a ravine that has been cut by Chautauqua Creek since the last glaciation episode that occurred around 15,000 years ago. The ravine is located close to Chautauqua New York.
For those familiar with this region, Northwest New York and NW Pennsylvania, the glaciers and glacier lakes are responsible for the rock formations, ravines, lakes, swampland and fossils that are abundant in this area.
As the Wisconsin glacier retreated by melting back towards the northwest it deposited glacial till or unsorted sediments. Chautauqua creek was one of the many creeks that cut through the unconsolidated, soft glacial till to create a beautiful ravine. The wall rocks of the gorge are shale and siltstone.
The shale creek bed is worn down to depths deep enough to create swimming holes. The Chautauqua gorge is known for three popular swimming holes and skinny dipping falls, which is a favorite with nudists.
Many locations alone the Chautauqua stream bed are lined with glacial erratics. Glacial erratics are large boulders that have been transported from Canada and deposited here by ice. These colorful igneous and metamorphic boulders are easy to spot as they stand out against the flat shale of the creek bed.
The gorge is also a paradise for those who enjoy looking at fossils. Bryozoans, pelycopods and brachiopods are common fossils found throughout the gorge.
So if your looking for a great hike and beautiful scenery take a days trip to the Chautauqua Gorge. Directions for the gorge: Chautauqua Gorge directions
For more photographs of the Chautauqua Gorge check out this link: kayakforfun.com
