The Ocean Floor

Trail Mud

Bye Bye Water, Hello Rock

Come here to the Buttermilk Gorge Trail. It has so much to explore. If you get past the Pinnacle Rock you will see a bumpy rock. It was the bottom of the sea a long time ago.

Over 390 million years ago rocks eroded down from the Acadian Mountains to what you are standing on right now. During that time the mountains were the size of Mount Everest. The mountains eroded into the tropical ocean.. Also North America and Europe were colliding. New York State used to be a tropical sea. What you are standing on used to be covered with mud under the sea. The mud hardened into the rock you see today. The rock is shiny, smooth, wavy, dark, oily, and bulky.

Today you can go there without scuba diving gear.