Falling rocks shut down Indian Ladder Trail

Thursday, May 2, 2024 - 18:24

— Enterprise file photo

The Minelot Falls on the Indian Ladder Trail in Thacher State Park. This week, the park shut down the trail following another rock fall. 

NEW SCOTLAND — Thacher State Park this week closed the Indian Ladder Trail following another incident of falling rocks.

The park in an April 28 Facebook post stated it was closing the trail “for further inspection.”

The trail will be closed until at least May 5, when the “New York State Parks scaling team is coming back to the park … to see if we need to attend to further maintenance of the cliff,” the post said. 

In the meantime, “Out of an abundance of caution we are keeping the trail closed until it can be reinspected,” the park stated. “It is important for the public to understand that the Helderberg escarpment is naturally eroding and rocks can fall at any time.”

No mention was made of injury caused by the recent rock fall.

In July 2017, a rockfall had paralyzed Albany City School District teacher Nancy Ladd-Butz as she hiked the Indian Ladder Trail with her daughter. 

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