What was the land like in colonial New York?

Answer 1

excerpt from
http://www.nyc.gov/html/nyc100/html/classroom/photos/colonialny.html

"Manhattan was a vast forest of oak, maple, chestnut, and pine trees; and abounded with berry bushes."

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(following is an excerpt from website
http://www.mvschools.org/ms/projects/colonies/Middle%20Colonies/NY%20Web%20Project/page2.html )

Geography

New York State had a wide variety of geographical features. Many boundaries of New York are bodies of water, Lake Ontario, Saint Lawrence River, Lake Champlain, Poultney River, Lake Erie, and Niagara Rivers. Trading was probably one of the main effects geography had on daily life.

The Saint Lawrence Lowland region in the north had a flat terrain, and became more hilly to the south. Most of this region had a base of sandstone and limestone. People settled in the flatter terrain to be closer to the water. The Adirondack Upland in northeastern New York took up one quarter of the entire colony. This area was rugged, and had many peaks that rose more than 4,000 feet. The soils in this region were very thin, stony, and acidic.

The Eastern Great Lakes Lowland region, was mostly flat and close to the lakes, but it became more hilly farther away. The Appalachian Plateau region occupied nearly half of the colony. This region had two main parts. One was the Catskill Mountains, with elevations of 4200 feet. The second was central New York which was the lowest part, with deep valleys formed by glaciers.


Hope this helps!!!

Answer 2

It was heavily forested over most of the State... It was only down on Long Island that much land was cleared by Settlers for Farms...