STILLWATER — Saratoga PLAN (Preserving Land and Nature), a nonprofit land trust, held an open house event at Dock Brown’s Lakeside Tavern on Tuesday to share three potential site options for Snake Hill, a 32-acre forested dome on the eastern shore of Saratoga Lake.

The hill, located in Stillwater, was purchased in December by Saratoga PLAN from Stewart’s Shops for $1 million. Now the nonprofit must decide what to do with their acquisition.

The first of the three options would be to simply preserve the land, allowing no public access. Staff would work to maintain and improve native species and biodiversity, minimize invasive species, and protect the water quality. The only human imprint would be a small parking lot that would allow staffers to access the hill.

The second option would allow limited public access to the property via pedestrian trails. Only small groups participating in Saratoga PLAN or partner programs or volunteer initiatives would be granted access to the hill. These group activities would be focused on environmental education. In addition to a small parking lot, picnic tables and a loop trail would be added to the land. This second option is the one preferred by Saratoga PLAN. 

The third option would open Snake Hill to visitors during daylight hours. Added to the property would be a parking lot, picnic tables and benches, and a loop trail. This option would result in staff being focused primarily on visitor safety and minimizing any visitor impact on the land’s species and biodiversity. Should Snake Hill become a popular destination, increased traffic and parking could become a problem, along with potential damage to the habitat caused by visitors.

“A lot of you know Snake Hill better than any of us,” said Saratoga PLAN Executive Director Rob Davies at the open house event. “You know details about this land that we don’t, and that’s why we’re here. We want to hear from you.” Regardless of what ultimately happens to Snake Hill, Davies said that the land would be protected “forever.”

Snake Hill, currently closed to the public, rises 200 feet over Saratoga Lake. It is the site of Saratoga County’s only documented rattlesnake hibernacula, hence its name. The snakes are believed to have been hunted to extinction more than 150 years ago. Snake Hill’s native name, Torwarloonda, means “hill of storm.” According to Michael Gaige, a consulting ecologist and Saratoga PLAN advisory council member, the hill’s “abundant fossils, folded layers, and relative isolation from other similar structures make it a geological anomaly.” 

Additional information about the three site options is available at SaratogaPLAN.org/snakehill. The community can also share their feedback via this web address. The deadline for submitting feedback is Friday, September 13. Saratoga PLAN said it would hold another community event in the fall once plans for Snake Hill had been further solidified.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Benedict Arnold stood tall next to the water cooler in the Saratoga TODAY newsroom as he expressed his eagerness to repel British advances at the upcoming Battles of Saratoga. Or at least that’s how it looked on one reporter’s cell phone.

The Saratoga 250 Commission is using augmented reality and 3D animations of historic figures to help bring the “turning point” of the American Revolution to life. Upon downloading an app, cell phone users can “see” these animated characters standing in front of them via their phone’s camera. The characters then deliver first-person testimonies of their roles in the Battles of Saratoga, presenting history in an entertaining and technologically advanced fashion.

“You can stand next to an animation of Benedict Arnold and take your picture,” said Lauren Roberts, Saratoga County Historian and chairperson of the Saratoga 250 Commission.

360XR, a digital storytelling company, is responsible for creating these augmented reality experiences. The company previously created similar animations for various historic sites on Long Island. One in particular, a driving tour of the Culper Spy Ring, caught Roberts’ attention.

“We liked all the different ways that they were telling the story and we decided that this is something that we would really like to have in Saratoga County,” Roberts said. “Not every place is a historic site where you can have staffing and signage and installations, so the idea of using technology was really great for us.”

After the second battle of Saratoga, when British General John Burgoyne was outnumbered and on the run, he headed about ten miles north to what is now Schuylerville. With the use of augmented reality, this trail of the British retreat would come alive at various sites where visitors could hear stories told by animated, historic characters.

Some of the characters being brought to life by 360XR and Saratoga 250 are Benedict Arnold, John Burgoyne, and Lady Frederika Riedesel, who wrote memoirs of her experiences in the war.

“We know a lot about what was going on during the siege because of her writings,” Roberts said. “She gives some wonderful perspectives; ones that we wouldn’t necessarily hear from a military perspective.”

Riedesel, the wife of the commander of German forces at Saratoga, took shelter in the Marshall House in present-day Schuylerville. In the house’s cellar, she helped care for women and wounded soldiers.

“Here, I stand, thousands of miles from home with my three young daughters,” says an animated version of Riedesel in a donor preview video created by 360XR. “We live amidst a paradox. Nature’s beauty surrounds us, yet the harsh realities of wilderness travel and the brutal truths of war shape our days.”

These words, spoken by an actress portraying Riedesel, come directly from the actual writings of Lady Frederika. But when it comes to other historic characters who didn’t always leave behind written records of their thoughts, a certain amount of creativity is required to, quite literally, put words in their mouths.

“We’re interpreting their position or perspective, but we’re trying to be as accurate as you can be in a process like this,” Roberts said.

As of now, a few demos of these historic characters have been created. But Saratoga 250 hopes to make more of them.

“Technology is not cheap, so [Campaign for Saratoga 250] is working on funding so that we can include more stories and implement what we have,” Roberts said.

The hope is to have all of these augmented reality experiences ready in time for the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Saratoga, which will be celebrated in 2027.

“I hope that using a new way to tell stories will interest a larger audience,” Roberts said. “We’re really just trying to reach more people and tell the story in an informative and entertaining way.”