Virtual Event: Join us to learn about sink hole issues in the Lehigh Valley. The program will present the basics of karst geology and its relationship to sink holes.
Sinkholes – Not In My Backyard! John Mauser, Martins-Jacoby Watershed Association
Through Zoom, 12:00 pm, February 5th.
Friday February 5th, Illicks Mill (small live audience) and live-streamed.
Join us to learn about sink hole issues in the Lehigh Valley. The program will present the basics of karst geology and its relationship to sink holes.
You will also learn what sink holes are, and where they are occurring, and how they can be mitigated. This program will feature case studies of sink hole development along the Bushkill Creek between Stockertown and Tatamy, and in Lower Nazareth Township.
Experience the winter woodlands at Northampton County Parks Department’s newest open space acquisition and learn about the history and mystery of the site’s famous Hexenkopf Rock.
Experience the winter woodlands at Northampton County Parks Department’s newest open space acquisition and learn about the history and mystery of the site’s famous Hexenkopf Rock
Join us for a guided walk led by Jim Wilson on this 77-acre tract of mature woodlands and wetlands on Hexenkopf Ridge in the beautiful Pennsylvania Highlands. Hexenkopf Rock—or simply Hexenkopf—is the centerpiece of the preserve. Hexenkopf means Witch’s Head in German and in the 18th and 19th centuries, Hexenkopf gained a reputation as a repository of evil and a residence of demons and witches, where pow-wow doctors would cast human illnesses from their sick patients. We’ll join Hexenkopf historians Linda and Ned Heindel at this infamous rock to hear about its folklore and legend. 1.5 hours long, about ½-mile in total length, starting at 11 am on 02/21. Inclement weather date February 28th.
See amazing stone constructions believed to have been built by Native Americans over 2500 years ago and learn about the possible meaning and science behind ongoing research at this site.
See amazing stone constructions believed to have been built by Native Americans over 2500 years ago and learn about the possible meaning and science behind ongoing research at this site. Register here.
Join the WCLV and the Little Lehigh Watershed Stewards for a guided walk on this private property to see beautifully built stone walls, cairns and other features believed to be part of a larger ceremonial landscape. Though their exact purpose or who built them is unknown, luminescence dating has provided a reliable date of construction of 2570 years ago. This represents the first time this technique has been used to directly date stone used in the construction of possible ancient cairns and walls in the Northeast. Enjoy a moderately easy walk across 14 acres of woodlands, on and off trail, with one short, but moderately steep hillside. 1.5 hours long, about ½-mile in total length, starting at 11 am on 01/24.
See spectacular views from the top of Blue Mountain and learn about hawk banding here and its contributions to raptor conservation.
See spectacular views from the top of Blue Mountain and learn about hawk banding here and its contributions to raptor conservation – inclement weather date 1/3/21
Join the WCLV and the Bertch Hokendaqua Catasauqua Watershed Association for a guided hike led by Jim Wilson to see breathtaking views of the Lehigh Valley and Pocono Mountains from the Little Gap Hawk Watch on the summit of Blue Mountain. We may even see late migrating hawks and eagles. Bring your binoculars! We’ll stop by the Little Gap Hawk Banding Station on our way up to the hawk watch, where we’ll learn how 50 years of hawk banding at this station has contributed to raptor conservation throughout the Americas. Enjoy a moderately difficult hike about 2 hours long, 2 miles in total length, starting at noon on 12/20; inclement weather date January 3rd.
Virtual Event: Learn what history, science and Native Americans have to say about ambiguous stoneworks found throughout the Northeast Woodlands—including here in the Lehigh Valley—and how public and private organizations are coming together to document, preserve and protect them.
The Mystery of Constructed Stone Landscapes in our Woodlands & Wetlands Jim Wilson, Northampton County Parks & New England Antiquities Research Association
Watch the recorded presentation on the Watershed Coalition of the Lehigh Valley Facebook page – it was recorded on Facebook live.
Thursday, March 18, Illicks Mill
Ceremonial Stone Landscapes is the term used by the United South & Eastern Tribes (USET), a nonprofit intertribal organization of American Indians, for stonework sites in eastern North America. USET states that, for thousands of years before the immigration of Europeans, the medicine people of the USET Tribal ancestors used these sacred landscapes to sustain the people’s reliance on Mother Earth and the spirit energies of balance and harmony.
Whether these stone structures are massive or small, stacked, stone rows or effigies, these prayers in stone are often mistaken by archaeologists and State Historic Preservation Offices as the effort of farmers clearing stone for agricultural or wall building purposes. That long held view is now shifting and is being reevaluated in Pennsylvania, which is rich in stone landscape structures, including here in the Lehigh Valley.
In this presentation, you’ll see scores of photographs of local “prayers in stone,” learn how the dates of these structures can now be determined and how the PA State Historic Preservation Office is working with citizen volunteers to document ceremonial stone landscapes across the Commonwealth.
