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This region, rich in history and bloody battles between English, French, Native Americans, and the colonists is home to the mountains called Big Nose and Little Nose separated by the Mohawk River in upstate New York.

Big Nose, seen here on the far side of the river, was and still is sacred ground for the Turtle Clan of the Iroquois Nation. Before the invasion of European settlers, Native American villages, built with longhouses, dotted the landscape. The valley was home to the upper, middle, and lower Indian Castles.

Iroquois called this mountain range the Turtle. The head of the turtle is what is known today as Big Nose. Sir William Johnson referred to it as “the nose”. An Iroquois native the settlers named Anthony, who had an unusually large nose, was the source of the later name, “Anthony’s Nose”.

Today one can still explore many caves which are scattered throughout this region. Some caves are bottomless. One cave connected Big Nose and Little Nose under the river and was a part of the trail systems used by the natives. Entrance to the tunnel is still evident on Little Nose, but the tunnel itself was demolished during the construction of the Thruway.

Wildlife is abundant. There are deer, wild turkey, bear, coyotes, wolves, rattlesnakes, and birds.

Above the heavy timber area, remnants of abandoned homesteads of white settlers can still be seen today.

There is an amazing amount of water on Big Nose; sinkholes are all over and waterfalls come straight out of rocks on the face of the mountain. It is believed that there is an underground lake just below the earth’s surface.

The area is a paradise for stone hunters, with large deposits of quartz which are very well protected by rattlesnakes.

Below the rim of the mountain, the turkey vulture claims his territory.

Standing like a castle alone and desolate in the freshly fallen snow, this barn standing on the northern edge of the Mohawk Valley seemed oblivious to the biting wind and the snow that showed no mercy on this treeless-unsheltered landscape overlooking the valley