The Petrified Sea Gardens (Petrified Gardens Rd., off Rte. 29 three miles west of downtown, 518/584-7102, www.petrifiedseagardens.org [1], 11 a.m.–5 p.m. daily June–Sept., 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Sat.–Sun. May and Oct.–Nov., adults $3.50, seniors and students $2.50, children $1.75) feature a 500-million-year-old stromatolite reef clearly etched with fossils.
Once at the bottom of the Cambrian Sea, the reef is strewn with wavy, pizza-size shapes that were made by cryptozoan colonies, odd-shaped glacial crevices, and potholes. Trails lead through the woods past petrified trees and mysterious erratics, or boulders left behind by receding glaciers.
Also on-site are a re-created Native American medicine wheel, a homespun rock and mineral museum, and the “Iroquois Pine,” a 295-year-old white pine reputedly the tallest white pine in the Northern Hemisphere.
Links:
[1] http://www.petrifiedseagardens.org