Zoar retains its fascination and controversy

The Valley of Zoar is on my mind.

This is often the case, as the truly mysterious places in Western New York State sporadically attract attention. Zoar is nature’s version of the H.H. Richardson Towers, but while the spooky Richardson Hospital has been at least partially tamed, Zoar still has a reputation as one of the wildest places in the area, despite being only a half-hour drive from Buffalo City Hall.

Zoar sits on the border of Erie and Cattaraugus counties, near Gowanda, and is close to another spooky—and long-abandoned—hospital, J.N. Adam, near Perrysburg.

Is anyone sure why it is called Zoar? There is no township of that name nearby, but credible sources refer to a “city in the plain” called Zoar, from the book of Genesis (13:10). It’s a nice-sounding word—perhaps a pious 19th-century settler thought the same thing.

Whatever its origin, the word Zoar means one thing to local outdoorsmen: a beautiful, largely unspoiled place for walking, hiking, rafting and canoeing. Some hunt and fish there. Many access the creek to swim in the summer, though that activity is not officially recorded.

Zoar might be easier to define and use if it were a national park. It’s not. The state Department of Environmental Conservation calls it a multiple-use area: 3,000 acres of state-protected land that’s available for recreation, as parks are, but not monitored or managed in the same way parks are. There’s also adjacent private property, lots of it. Much of it is now owned by the Nature Conservancy, and many individual landowners own property along Cattaraugus Creek, the waterway that created the canyon and its 400-foot cliffs.

Zoar is notorious for accidental deaths from falls and drownings. The steep cliffs, many of which are covered in crumbling shale, pose great dangers to hikers who are not vigilant. Cattaraugus Creek, gently rippling on a dry summer day, becomes a raging stream in the spring, with rapids approaching Class II or IV on the whitewater scale.

While volunteer firefighters and security patrols have long been the primary providers of emergency response and surveillance in the area, the state and other entities are stepping in more frequently to make Zoar safer for visitors and better protect its trees and wildlife. Those efforts have been somewhat controversial.

Around 2007, the Nature Conservancy purchased property along the South Fork of Cattaraugus Creek to close off a waterfall—“Big Falls”/Deer Lick Falls—that had been the site of accidents. Hikers can barely see the waterfall, but then have to turn back. In 2017, Nature Conservancy volunteer William Cain told the Olean Times Herald that “the number of emergency rescues and injuries has plummeted” since access to the falls was restricted, though enforcement is often handled by volunteers, who can only sound the alarm.

In 2021, DEC added 450 safety and information signs and kiosks to inform hikers of hazards and help them stay on marked trails. Last week, the agency opened Memorial Trail, the first trail in Zoar to meet federal accessibility standards. The quarter-mile loop replaces the original trail at the Valentine Flats overlook. It is 6 feet wide and is at least 15 feet from the cliff edge. Those who want a clear view of the gorge below can access four viewing areas.

Reactions have been mixed. Marla Walker, whose 16-year-old daughter Brooke died after falling while hiking in Zoar in 2020, told WKBW Channel 7’s Michael Wooten that the new trail is “incredible, inspiring, hopeful” and that “Brooke would have loved it.”

It was admirable and poignant that Walker and Bridget Mazierski, who lost her brother Brian in 1989, agreed to visit the site and talk hopefully about its future.

But members of a Facebook group, Zoar Valley Life, were not impressed, with the majority of comments decrying the trail’s visibility restrictions and calling the experience “ruined.”

Cain, a Nature Conservancy volunteer, wrote a letter to the Times Herald in May, demanding that “construction of this trail be immediately abandoned.” His reasons: hikers would be pushed further away from the cliff and the trail would be immediately exposed to vandals — “an ongoing cost and liability to all levels of government and a deadly hazard.”

Any Western New Yorker who has been paying attention knows that there will be controversy and disagreement when the subject of Zoar Valley management comes up.

Now there’s a new controversy, due to a new DEC plan that may involve some logging. That’s probably why I couldn’t get the Zoar experts I contacted to officially weigh in for this column.

I turned to the writer who was my first introduction to Zoar: the late Bruce Kershner, a western New York naturalist. Kershner’s “Secret Places” is out of print but has been updated as “Secret Places of Western New York: 25 Scenic Hikes,” with the help of co-authors Jennifer Hillman and William McKeever. Both books are highly recommended and together offer comprehensive guided tours of Zoar and a host of other beautiful sites in New York and Ontario.

Kershner was keenly aware of Zoar’s dangers, frequently using boldface for phrases like “Many people have drowned here” and descriptions like “Caution,” “It’s dangerous,” and “Don’t you dare try.” But he and the other authors are also eager to help readers enjoy Zoar safely, walking a fine line between enthusiastic encouragement and practical advice.

Kershner not only shared the beauty of Zoar through his writings, but he also helped secure state protection for much of its forest, giving it “forever wild” status. Kershner led those who verified the existence of old-growth forest in Zoar, which was news to the DEC at the time. But when Kershner said: “We have discovered the first virgin forest in New York State outside the Adirondack and Catskill reservations,” he was right.

This radical change led to respect for old-growth stands throughout western New York. The DEC’s protection plan was finalized in 2007, just before Kershner died.

Better than anyone, Kershner understood that fine line between respect for nature, the desire to experience it and the need to do so with caution.

His legacy is at the heart of why Zoar remains not only forever wild, but forever fascinating.

Never visited Zoar? This DEC site (dec.ny.goc/places) provides the details; just type in Zoar.