ALBANY — The state will pay $9 million to settle a lawsuit filed by a woman who was left paralyzed from the chest down after she was struck by falling rocks while hiking at John Boyd Thacher State Park in 2017.

The bulk of the money — $8.4 million — will go to the catastrophically injured hiker, Nancy Ladd-Butz of Clifton Park. Her husband, Robert Butz, will be paid $100,000 and another $500,000 will go to her daughter, Kelsey Butz.

The accord was reached Monday between attorneys for Ladd-Butz and the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation during an appearance before Court of Claims Judge W. Brooks DeBow. A trial had been expected to start on Monday.

"We're just happy with the result," said Ladd-Butz's attorney, George J. Szary of the Albany firm of DeGraff, Foy & Kunz.

Szary's attorney's fees will be paid out of the settlement.

The family served a notice of claim for its lawsuit in September 2017, alleging the incident was a result of "dangerous and hazardous conditions" caused by the state's "negligence and lack of care." It named as defendants the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and the Department of Environmental Conservation.

On July 2, 2017, Butz and her daughter, Kelsey, were hiking with their dogs on the popular Indian Ladder Trail when rocks fell, leaving Ladd-Butz with severe spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries. She spent 18 days in critical condition at Albany Medical Center Hospital.

READ PAUL GRONDAHL'S APRIL 2018 INTERVIEW WITH LADD-BUTZ

The Times Union reported last August that top state parks officials had been aware of concerns about the stability of the cliff above the trail. The potential for peril had been raised by Dean Bardwell, the regional safety manager who was responsible for the park, according to a May 22, 2017, report by regional safety manager Andrew Chouinard that the Times Union obtained through a state Freedom of Information Law request.

At Chouinard's request, a state crew from Ithaca had spent four days at the park between May 15 and May 18, 2017, where they found "an abundance of loose material on the escarpment face." The report indicated that because of "time restrictions," the workers had removed loose rocks only from parts of the cliff considered most hazardous before they returned to Ithaca.

The workers estimated how long it would take to stabilize the cliff above the entire 2.5-mile hiking trail at the base of the escarpment. But the next sentence in the report — after it indicated how long a complete removal job might take — was redacted by the parks department's counsel's office.

The only recommendation in Chouinard's report was also redacted.

The report also suggested Bardwell had workers use their hands, not tools, to remove loose rock at the cliffs on their last day there "to avoid closing the trail for the weekend because of potentially dropping debris on wooden structures."

The park's limestone cliffs, which are part of a 400-million-year-old seabed, were created some 25,000 years ago by glaciers. Limestone, a soft sedimentary rock, is highly vulnerable to erosion. The cliffs of Thacher Park, which stretch six miles, are some of the world's richest marine fossil-bearin­g formations.

Limestone, which is inherently unstable, can crumble without warning. Some trees along Indian Ladder Trail have shown scarring from being struck during prior rockfalls. And the limestone beds at Thacher are layered, which makes them even less stable. Coupled with the freeze and thaw of winter, it can weaken the layers.

Chouinard and Bardwell were two of the 24 names listed as possible witnesses for the trial. The others were park officials, officers and crew workers, court papers show.

Brian Nearing contributed.