Old-Growth in New York?

Hello all! I am searching for some old-growth forests to do some climbing in South-Central New York or Northern PA (Centered around Binghamton, NY)... Any thoughts? I'm looking for places less than one hour away, but I'll accept more than that if it's really worth it! Any resources (i.e. data bases or the like) would be helpful, other than that destinations and directions would be most helpful! Thanks!

Mateo

Here are some trees near Binghamton. Don't know what the access is for climbing in these places. Try Googling for directions and contacts for the locations.

Salt Springs State Park
Montrose, PA
550 year-old hemlocks and other old-growth, don't know if they've been attacked yet by wooly adelgids.

Woodbourne Forest Sanctuary
Montrose, PA
400+ year-old hemlock, red oak, beech etc.

Thanks Moss. I've been to Salt Springs many a times... and I don't know if they allow climbing (something tells me no). Plus they are hemlocks, and I'm not the best at rigging conifers (I don't trust their branches as much, which is most likely a mistake). But is there a good way to rig large conifers? Anyways, I'll check out the other forest. Thanks again, and anyone else who knows of anything, please share!

mateo

Matteo,

Climbing a conifer is a lot like climbing some of those virolas down there in Bocas. The secret is to keep your rope right down into the limb collar at the trunk of the tree. If you still feel uncomfortable, try backing it up with a loose lanyard. I have never personally had any problems with live branches on hemlocks that were more than a couple of inches in diameter at the collar. So far, they have been a lot less scary to me than climbing an old-growth white pine. The biggest problem I have encountered in hemlocks has been the closeness of the branches when you get into the upper canopy. They are extremely close together and I can only climb a couple of feet before I have to reset either my rope or the lanyard.

Hope this is encouraging...!

Wild Bill from Dawsonville
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This is the top old-growth location in the northeast:
Zoar Valley
Deer Lick Preserve
Map PDF

It's located near Gowanda, south of Buffalo. I'm not saying this is a place to climb. It is at least a great place to pay homage to probably the best example of virgin and secondary old-growth forest in the northeastern U.S.

Hello, I am located right outside of rochester new york, and lookin for someone to help get me into some climbing, so if you are ever in the area, let me know.