Lowville

Lowville

I do find the hillshade to make even most boring map a little more attractive. Not all of New York has the LiDAR data in the 3D Elevation Program, like with Albany County, but a lot of places do, and it's far nicer then the traditional digital elevation models.

Lowville Forestry Demostration Area

The Lowville Forestry Demonstration Area is located on 98 acres at the former NYS Lowville Tree Nursery. The nursery was in operation from approximately 1923 to 1971 and during that time, a total of 530 million seedlings were produced. A demonstration forest was created here by planting trees together in blocks based on species. Demonstration forests are used to show how different species of trees grow and look together. https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/8075.html

A Black River Feeder Canal Trail – Black River Valley / Tug Hill Trip Seems Intriguing 🚡🏻

I’m becoming increasingly intrigued by the prospect of riding the Black River Feeder Canal Trail. While not the lengthiest bike path, I have a preference for tackling slightly more rugged dirt and gravel trails on my mountain bike. It’s been quite a while since I last explored the Tug Hill – Black River Valley region.

Pairing this adventure with a camping experience at Otter Creek State Forest seems enticing. This combination would afford me the opportunity to engage in a series of exhilarating mountain biking sessions along the Otter Creek Horse Trails. These trails predominantly consist of sand and dirt, making them ideal for mountain biking due to their minimal presence of roots, sizeable rocks, and steep inclines. An additional advantage of Otter Creek is its camping policy, allowing stays from Thursday morning through Tuesday morning without necessitating a permit for stays under three nights.

Considering all these factors, embarking on this adventure in the autumn, perhaps in mid to late September, holds significant promise.

The CAFOs of the Upper Black River Valley

CAFOs are mid-size (orange square) and large (brown square) dairies that have to manure management and water quality plans approved by the state to ensure they aren't over fertilizing fields and are controlling run off from their barnyards. Other farms are required to have CAFO permits, however dairy is the primary large-scale livestock industry in New York thanks to the state's cool and wet climate that is good for silage growing and dairy cow comfort. Click on boxes to pull up the farm record.

They say that Lowville rhythms with Cowville. The Black River Valley is known for it's fertile soils in narrow the strip between Tug Hill Plateau and Adirondack hill country of Independence River Wild Forest. The hicktown  of Lowville has all the smells of dairy country both good and pungent, haylage and silage, manure, and cattle more generally.

Marks Dairy, south of Lowville is one of the largest dairies in state, fed by thousands of acres of rich soil that are turned into silage, fed to cows, which are milked and turned into delicious cream cheese and other diary products. Lowville has the Cream Cheese festival every year, a product invented in Philadelphia, a few miles up the road.