Tug Hill Region

The Tug Hill region lies between Lake Ontario and the Adirondacks, Oneida Lake and the Black River. Larger than several states, its approximately 2,100 square miles comprise one of the most rural sections of New York State and the Northeast. A scattering of public lands covers a tenth of the region, with most of that land used extensively for timber production, hunting, and other recreation. The rest is forest, farms, and homes privately owned, all of it working land that supports the region's way of life.

                              Working lands support the Tug Hill Way of Life

Its total population is just over 100,000, with most of that concentrated in villages around its edges. Its densely forested core of about 800 square miles is among New York's most remote areas, with a population of just a few thousand and few public roads.

The rocks that underlie Tug Hill (mostly shales and sandstones) help define the region. They gently rise from 250 feet at the western edge near Lake Ontario to 2,100 feet on the eastern edge where escarpments drop almost 1,500 feet to the Black River.

Tug Hill's elevation and position with respect to Lake Ontario results in an average annual snowfall in excess of 200 inches - the heaviest snowfall east of the Rockies. This high precipitation supplies an abundance of wetlands, streams, and rivers, noted for their pristine character.

 
Hunting camp in Osceola
Photo by Robert McNamara, Cleveland, NY

Another notable characteristic of the Tug Hill landscape is the abundance of gorges, known locally as "gulfs," that were carved by rapidly flowing water from the melt of glaciers. Most of the region's 17 gulfs contain sections up to 200 feet deep. In some cases, the streams have cut gorges almost 300 feet deep.

Inman Gulf