GOSHEN – Orange County is looking to keep people out of the county-owned Dutchess Quarry Caves in Goshen for fear of artifacts being vandalized or stolen and the potential for people to get hurt.
The prehistoric caves are adjacent to the Dutchess Quarry mining operation.
At a session of the Dutchess Quarry Sites National Registry District Management Committee earlier this week, members discussed how to keep people from entering the caves. Committee Chairman County Legislator Leigh Benton said the county has the right to keep it off-limits.
“This place has been open for 12,000 years. Anyone who wanted to can walk there at any time. It is county property. We restrict other parks,” he said.
Members discussed placing signs with various messages on them.
The county legislature is also going to authorize the county historian to purchase materials to create a Dutchess Quarry Caves exhibit.
