Saint Regis Falls and the Sunday Rock – Exploring the Outskirts of the Adirondacks
The northern part of New York state, the one that adjoins the St. Lawrence Seaway, is not often frequented by travelers unless they are visiting the Alexandria Bay and the Thousand Islands. Yet from my home in Ottawa, it is the gateway to New York, and my nearest border crossing the the United States. As such, I have spent a considerable amount of time in the Adirondacks parks in the last few years. These drives has resulted in finding these hidden gems in northern New York, near where the park borders area located. The two locations mentioned in this post are located north-west of the Adirondack Park, south of the town of Canton.
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Saint Regis Falls
Located on the St. Regis River, this little hamlet has a beautiful old wood mill located on the river. The pretty structure was built near where a a dam and weir exist today and caught my eye immediately while I was driving.
The Sunday Rock
The legendary (but forgotten Sunday Rock) is another roadside attraction that caught my eye! Lots of fanfare for a big boulder in a field but it makes sense when taken into historic context. The 65 000 pound glacial rock was placed here, in this flat agricultural area by a retreating Champlain sea and stands out as a remarkable geographical landmark. This boulder was seen by local residents back in the olden days as the “Gateway to the big south woods”, or what we would call the Adirondack park today. It also predates them and was used by first nations as a point of reference. In fact the town of Colton in which the rock is located in is on the border of the park itself. The name derives from the day of the week… Sunday in which there was no law or Sunday beyond crossing the rock. This was a very different era!
Sunday is a reference that all days felt the same in the park, as life was freer and one would loose track of time. This was natures domain, not man’s.
With the advent of the automobile, the rock was set to be discarded as it lay in the way of furute highway 56. Funds were raised and the rock was moved and preserved in 1925. It now a proud heritage site, being added to the register of historic places in 2010.
