Take the Ford and Check Out These 4 Amazing Day Trips Near Amsterdam, NY

Go on exciting day trips from Amsterdam, NY, to see roaring waterfalls, impressive Victorian architecture, a magnificent subterranean lake, and the skeleton of a massive beast 13,000 years old. Enjoy every mile behind the wheel in a 2022 Ford Ranger XLT with easy maneuverability, great driver-assistance features, and a gutsy turbo engine.

1. Plotter Kill Preserve

The breathtaking 632-acre Plotter Kill Preserve right here in Amsterdam boasts three beautiful waterfalls ranging from 40 to 60 feet in height. A path leads from the Mariaville Road parking lot and splits into two trails that lead to each waterfall.

The scenic Red Trail is the longest trail and loops through most of the preserve to the top of all three waterfalls. If you follow the Blue Trail, you will reach the overlook for the best view of the roaring Upper Falls, the largest waterfall in the preserve.

2. The Nott Memorial

The impressive Nott Memorial on the campus of Union College in Schenectady is one of the world’s few 16-sided buildings. The beautiful Victorian building is 89 feet in diameter and capped with a vaulted dome sprinkled with 709 small colored-glass windows. Intricately tiled floors cover the ground level, and beautiful stained glass windows on all 16 sides.

The building is dedicated to Eliphalet Nott, president of Union College, for 62 years, from 1804 to 1866. The construction of the Nott Memorial began in 1858 and was completed in 1879, and today, this beloved building houses the Mandeville Gallery and the Wikoff Student Gallery. The Nott Memorial is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been declared a National Historic Landmark.

3. Howe Caverns

Take a drive to 255 Discovery Drive in Howe, explore the Howe Caverns, and enjoy a boat ride on an underground lake. An experienced and knowledgeable tour guide will then take you to explore the six million-year-old Howe Caverns through winding corridors under massive boulders to a subterranean riverbed carved out of limestone over millions of years.

You will find spectacular rock formations and dripping stalactites down well-worn winding pathways and 139 stairs that twist and turn into the cavern’s depths 156 feet below to a breathtaking underground lake.  

4. The Site of the Cohoes Mastodon

For a century and a half, the Cohoes Mastodon has been a significant feature of the New York State Museum at 222 Madison Avenue in Albany. Still, you’ll have to drive the 40 or so miles to 100 N Mohawk Street in Cohoes to visit the site where this incredible beast was found.

During the construction of Harmony Mill No. 3 in 1866, the 13,000-year-old male mastodon skeleton was uncovered deep within an Ice Age pothole near the base of the Cohoes Falls. Archaeologists determined that he weighed around five and a half tons, stood over eight and a half feet tall, and was about 32 years old when he died.

Take a trip to these unique destinations and see amazing sights. Before you hit the road, swing by Brown’s Ford of Amsterdam today and check out the all-new tough 2022 Ford Ranger XLT.

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