The Helderberg is a low mountain crested with a sheer limestone
cliff called an escarpment that rises abruptly against the horizon just
a few miles west of Albany. The mountain was named Helderberg by the 17th
century Dutch settlers that colonized the region, "Helder" meaning "Clear"
and "berg" meaning "mountain." The Helderberg Escarpment separated the
Mohawk Indian settlements just west of the Hudson River from those in the
Hudson Valley. In order to scale the cliff face the Native Americans traveling
the well-worn trade route leaned a felled tree against a low section of
the escarpment, lopping off the branches close to the trunk to create foot
and hand holds. It is from this ancient "Indian Ladder" that Indian Ladder
Farms took its name. Today the site of the original Indian Ladder is part
of the John Boyd Thacher State Park. The ladder stood where the staircase
now descends to the head of the Indian Ladder Trail which runs along the
base of the cliff.
Click the picture to learn more about Thacher Park
