Thacher Park designated National Natural Landmark

VOORHEESVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) – The National Park Service (NPS) recognized John Boyd Thacher State Park as a National Natural Landmark (NNL) on Wednesday. Thacher earned the distinction from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland due to the extraordinary value of the Helderberg Escarpment.

Thacher Park earned the distinction because it has "the most complete and minimally disturbed record of Middle Paleozoic rock layering in the Appalachian Plateaus region, and perhaps across North America," NPS said in the announcement. "The uniquely accessible fossil-rich deposits provide a visible geologic cross section spanning 63 million years that is foundational in the early study and understanding of North American geology and of widespread ancient mountain creation."

The park's natural features highlight America’s character, rarity, and value to science and education, NPS said. And according to a statement from the park, the alluring and distinctive ridge overlooking Albany "stands as a living testament to the geological evolution and ecological diversity of the region."

Looming on the horizon, the Escarpment supports a fossil record revealing local trilobites, aquatic creatures that learned to walk on land. And, because the forests have been protected from development as the Capital Region grew, the powerful network of biodiversity today includes unique plants, animals, and habitat.

NPS administers the NNL program, having already identified 602 other locations with outstanding biological and geological resources. “It’s important that the places we deem nationally significant represent the historical and natural diversity of the American experience,” said NPS Director Chuck Sams.

Open all year, Thacher State Park offers miles of trails, scenic waterfalls, and vistas to shame any masterpiece. Erupting from the earth just 12 miles west of Albany, the Helderberg Escarpment now fits within the landscape of a national system.