Cattaraugus County: Clare Mark

It is referred to as the "Enchanted Mountains Region," a part of the county that features peaks and gullies and strange geological formations. Four Mile Valley saw the first oil well in this part of the state in 1877. Lumber has always been a vital resource here. The wells and trees still remain, co-existing on hillsides that rise and fall across the southeastern part of Cattaraugus. The highest point is a wooded area with four-wheel-drive roads that lead to drilling locations. "Mostly oil was there," historian Nancy Phearsdorf said, when asked what has transpired in these parts since her Town of Allegany was formed in 1831 as an offshoot of Great Valley. The mountains have been here longer than man has, of course. A visit to Rock City, the natural feature found in the Town of Allegany only a few miles from the high point, is like diving into a primeval time when this place was an ocean. Rock City holds the world's largest deposit of quartz conglomerate. "The visual effect of all these rocks is quite impressive," a Department of Environmental Conservation forester was quoted in a guide for the nearby Allegany State Park. "There are huge rocks the size of houses scattered down the slope from the edge of the big piece of rock that makes up the top of the hill. In some places there are narrow spaces between the rocks that are like streets. This is the origin of the term 'Rock City.'" Rock City isn't the only place with features that catch the eye and the imagination. Allegany State Park, New York's largest at 65,000 acres, has a place called Thunder Rocks. Allegany State Park also offers 56.5 miles of hiking trails (32.3 miles of which can be cross-country skied), which is consolation for not being able to walk up the privately owned peak to the top of the county. The Clare benchmark, placed by the U.S. Geodetic Survey in 1935, is on private property between Chipmunk and West Branch roads south of New York Route 17. There are other hills nearly as high as the one on which this mark is found—2,400-foot Hartzfelt Mountain and 2,387-foot Flatiron Rock about 5 miles to the east—but you need to go to Allegany State Park to find the highest public place. The county highpoint is on private property. An alternate summit hike is provided in the eTrail.