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Ausable Chasm, Keeseville, NY

Photo: Alan Prusila / Alanp35 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Sport & OutdoorOutdoor AdventureFamily Favorite

Ausable Chasm

2144 Route 9 · Keeseville, NY

Why you should go…

Ausable Chasm is a sandstone gorge about two miles long and 150 feet deep, cut by the Ausable River near Keeseville. Basic admission gives you five miles of self-guided trails, past Rainbow Falls and rock formations such as Elephant's Head and Jacob's Well. You can add a raft float tour, river tubing, rappelling, rock climbing or the Adventure Trail. The chasm has drawn paying visitors since 1873, when boat tours by bateau first ran through the gorge.

  • #gorge
  • #hiking trails
  • #rafting
  • #waterfall
  • #adirondacks

Good to know

General sport & outdoor guidance

Habits that pay off across this whole category, not rules for this one venue. Always check the official site for the specifics.

  • Weather calls the shots

    Check the forecast the morning of and keep an indoor backup in your pocket for the day it turns.

  • Shoes, water, sun cover

    The three things that decide whether you last the whole outing or cut it short after an hour.

  • Parking and launches fill early

    On a nice weekend, lots and trailheads are often full by mid-morning.

  • Daylight shrinks in shoulder season

    Spring and fall visits need an earlier start than the same trip in July.

What's around here?

The closest stops to Ausable Chasm, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Attractions
    Family Favorite

    ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain

    Under $25

    Explore a lakefront science center with hands-on exhibits, live animals and aquariums devoted to Lake Champlain.

    12 mi awaySwitch it up: Attractions

  • Sightseeing
    Free

    Church Street Marketplace

    Free

    Stroll four car-free blocks of downtown Burlington lined with local shops, restaurants and a busy calendar of street events.

    13 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Museums
    History Buff

    Shelburne Museum

    $25–$50

    Wander 39 buildings on a 45-acre campus filled with folk art, quilts, Impressionist paintings and the steamboat Ticonderoga.

    16 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Sport & Outdoor
    Outdoor Adventure

    Mount Mansfield

    Free

    Hike or drive to the alpine ridgeline of Vermont's highest peak for views from the Chin, its 4,395-foot summit.

    32 mi awayMore like this

  • Sport & Outdoor
    Iconic

    Stowe Mountain Resort

    $50+

    Ski Mount Mansfield, the highest peak in Vermont, and Spruce Peak, then unwind in the slopeside Spruce Peak Village.

    33 mi awayMore like this

  • Sport & Outdoor
    Outdoor Adventure

    Smugglers' Notch State Park

    Under $25

    Camp and hike at the foot of Mount Mansfield in the narrow Green Mountains pass that the notch road climbs through.

    34 mi awayMore like this