Purgatory Chasm in Sutton dates to a retreating glacier, some 15,000 years ago. The yield is a daunting collection of jumbled rocks, shaped by ice and water, with countless walls and crevices to explore.
The land was added to the state park system in 1919, having been owned by Whitin Machine Works, at the time an industrial powerhouse in the region. The area is overseen by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Purgatory Chasm State Reservation attracts thousands of visitors each year, with the Chasm Loop Trail bringing hikers on, around and through the rock formations. Some of the rock faces are 70 feet high…