A landmark in Saratoga County is credited with inspiring a classic novel. Cooper's Cave is located in the heart of the Hudson River between the city of Glens Falls and the village of South Glens Falls. Terry Stackhouse takes us there in this edition of Explore New York.

SOUTH GLENS FALLS, N.Y. -- Nestled under the Route 9 Bridge connecting Glens Falls and South Glens Falls in Saratoga County lies a place where fiction meets history.

"Well the whole concept came from the middle 1820s when James Fennimore Cooper was coming through the area,” said Bill Hayes, a Cooper’s Cave volunteer.

Mesmerized by a cave jutting from the rushing Hudson River, locals say author James Fennimore Cooper was inspired to write his most famous novel -- The Last of the Mohicans. The cave served as a hiding place for characters in the book. Nearly 200 years later, the landscape looks different.  

"Because of the two paper mills on either side of the river and we're standing in front of a power plant, electrical power plant," Hayes said.

The area wasn’t accessible from the 1960s until about 10 years ago when the state worked with the village and city to build a walkway over the Hudson.

"Well they see that beauty, they see that raw landscape framed really by the banks of South Glens Falls and Glens Falls and how important the Hudson River really was to those communities,” said Amy Collins, director of tourism and business development for the City of Glens Falls.

"Well you see a viewing platform here. They have access to the cave area,” Hayes said.

For liability reasons, you can’t actually enter the cave but a viewing area gives visitors a glimpse inside.

“You can stand there and what you are looking at is down into the back of the cave,” said Hayes.

Nearby, a small museum celebrates the area’s historical significance.

"Locals anyway, they really are taken up with this place and the history it has generated for the area,” Hayes said.

The Hudson River propelling industry for generations, supporting factories and power plants that continue to support the region.

"It is folklore. It is history. And it is commerce and tourism all wrapped up in one,” said Collins.