Plotter Kill Preserve

The Almy D. Coggleshall Plotter Kill Preserve is a 632acre nature reserve and hiking area located on Route 159 in the town of Rotterdam, Schenectady County, New York State.EtymologyPlotter kill is most likely a corruption of Platte kill, which is also found in Ulster County. The Platte comes from the Dutch Het Platte, a term applied to country districts, and kill meaning stream or creek.General descriptionThe preserve is named after Almy D. Coggleshall, who was central in creating the trail at Plotter Kill while a member of the Schenectady County Environmental Advisory Council. In 1990 the preserve was renamed in his honor. While the preserve is a forest containing a mixture of hardwood and conifers, its main feature is the Plotter Kill gorge. The gorge was cut by melt waters at the close of the ice ages approximately 10,000 years ago. The Plotter Kill is a tributary of the Mohawk River which runs for 3.5mi from Rynex Corner dropping 900ft to the river. There are three waterfalls in the preserve, the Upper, the Lower and the Rynex Creek Falls. The Upper has a 60ft drop while the Lower and Rynex Creek falls each have drops of 40ft.Natural historyMany of the flat rock layers, exposed by water flow and erosion over the last 20,000 years, were originally formed during the Mohawkian age of the Ordovician period, approximately 450 million years ago. These layers appear rectangular, featuring orthogonal joint sets.