Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site will celebrate June as Great Outdoors Month by offering fun opportunities to enjoy the outdoor spaces at the Erie Canal site. Great Outdoors Month is a month-long celebration of responsible, healthy outdoor recreation on local, state, and federal lands and waters.
The return of Putman Porch Music on Thursdays from 6:30pm to 8:00pm will be a great way to enjoy an evening of musicians jamming Americana, Roots, Bluegrass, and Folk tunes. Kicking off on June 2nd, this series invites local musicians to come spend an evening on the historic Putman Canal Store porch to jam and enliven the vibe of the former Erie Canal stop off. Putman’s store building is located at Yankee Hill Lock on the grounds of Schoharie Crossing, 553 Queen Anne Road. Much like a group of canawlers that happen to be stuck waiting at the lock, a few instruments and strong voices is all that is needed to pass the time.
Get outdoors and peddle your way on World Bicycle Day, June 3rd at 6:00pm from Yankee Hill Lock to Karen’s Ice Cream. This staff lead ride will be along the Empire State Trail, covering three miles each way. The site encourages families to participate and enjoy a delicious ice cream cone before riding back.
On National Trails Day, Saturday, June 4th, Schoharie Crossing is collaborating with ECOS: The Environmental Clearinghouse to offer a paddle on the Schoharie and Mohawk River starting at 9am and a guided nature–walk at 1pm from the Visitor Center. Bring your canoe or kayak to the Schoharie Aqueduct Boat-launch on Dufel Rd, just off NYS Rt. 5S for a leisurely paddle to explore the nature and history of these waterways. Overall, we’ll paddle about three miles and discover some fascinating connections this spot has to places near and far. Bring a picnic lunch to enjoy after the paddle and before the nature walk, starting from 129 Schoharie Street in Fort Hunter. We’ll traverse about a mile of the old canal towpath, were mules once pulled barges. Now, these paths are lined with interesting plants, wildflowers, birds, and other critters we might see along the way.
Saturday, June 18th we’ll host a picnic at Empire Lock as we celebrate International Picnic Day. At 11:30am, we’ll take a short half-mile walk from our Visitor Center to Empire Lock to enjoy a Bring Your Own Picnic together.This is a great way to spend part of the day before Father’s Day! Discover some beauty among the towpath trail and historic Erie Canal features. The site will provide a Picnic Basket Shuttle, transporting your lunch and keeping it safe from Yogi.
These events are a fun way to add miles to the Canalway Challenge, a program sponsored by the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. More information on this free challenge can be found online at: https://eriecanalway.org/canalway-challenge
To wrap up the month, on Tuesday, June 28th at 6:30pm the Friends of Schoharie Crossing host environmental educator and author, Anita Sanchez for Puddles! “There’s nothing shallow about a puddle! Puddles are homes, bathtubs, and drinking fountains for wildlife. They also provide a key ingredient for many animal homes: mud!” This hands-on program will introduce naturalists to the animals that use puddles as a habitat. We’ll meet some puddle-loving creatures, including snails, and have some close-up experience with mud.
The grounds for the site are open all year from sunrise to sunset. Visitor Center hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 10am to 4pm and Sunday 1pm to 4pm. Group reservations available for off hours.
For information about these events or what is available at Schoharie Crossing, please call the Visitor Center at (518) 829-7516 or email SchoharieCrossing@parks.ny.gov. Find and like us on Facebook. For more information about New York State Parks, visit the website at www.nysparks.com.
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees more than 250 individual state parks, historic sites, golf courses, boat launches and recreational trails, which are visited by 78 million people annually. For more information on any of these recreation areas, call 518-474-0456 or visit www.nysparks.com, connect on Facebook, or follow on Twitter.
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Putman Porch Music at Yankee Hill Lock. Photo Credit: Halldor Sigurdsson