Chimney Bluffs State Park is a state park in the town of

Huron Huron may refer to: People * Wyandot people (or Wendat), indigenous to North America * Wyandot language, spoken by them * Huron-Wendat Nation, a Huron-Wendat First Nation with a community in Wendake, Quebec * Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi ...

in Wayne County, New York. The park is situated on the southern shore of

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border ...

, east of

Sodus Bay Sodus Bay is a bay on the south shore of Lake Ontario, one of the Great Lakes. Sodus Bay is located in Wayne County, New York, USA. Most of the bay is in the Town of Huron, however, the western part is in the Town of Sodus. Sodus Bay has some ...

. From the park's hiking trails, visitors can view the large clay formations at the water's edge for which the park is named.

Geology

The bluffs are formed from eroded

drumlins A drumlin, from the Irish Gaelic, Irish word ''droimnín'' ("littlest ridge"), first recorded in 1833, in the classical sense is an elongated hill in the shape of an inverted spoon or half-buried egg formed by glacier, glacial ice acting on und ...

, teardrop-shaped hills of

glacial till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

that were deposited and shaped by glaciers during the most recent

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

. The erosive power of wind, rain, snow, and waves has formed the landscape into sharp pinnacles. Although the pinnacles and cliffs, some of which rise up to above the lake shore, have existed for thousands of years, they are constantly changing and further eroding.

Park history and features

The Chimney Bluffs area has been a landmark for many years. According to the pamphlet given by the park, smugglers used the area as a landing point while transporting liquor from Canada during

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol ...

. The area was acquired by the state of New York in 1963 after having previously been operated informally as a privately owned recreation area. It lay undeveloped until 1999 when a parking lot, service building with heated restrooms, picnic areas with grills, and hiking trails throughout the park were added. It is considered a year-round park for hiking and picnicking in the summer. Swimming is prohibited. Winter activities include cross-country skiing and snowshoeing; a trailhead for snowmobiling is also located within the park. The park has approximately of hiking trails, including a trail along the Bluffs between the west and east entrances. From some vantage points in the park, visitors can see

Nine Mile Point Nuclear Generating Station Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station is a nuclear power plant with two nuclear reactors located in the town of Scriba, approximately five miles northeast of Oswego, New York, on the shore of Lake Ontario. The site is also occupied by the James A. F ...

, to the northeast, as well as the coal smokestacks located in Oswego. On sufficiently clear days, the

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

skyline may also be visible on the horizon about 36 miles (58 km) to the southwest.

Gallery

Chimney Bluffs State Park - 20160330 - 26.jpg, Terrain of Chimney Bluffs State Park, March 2016

References

External links

New York State Parks: Chimney Bluffs State Park
{{authority control State parks of New York (state) Parks in Wayne County, New York

Geology

Park history and features

Gallery

See also

References

External links