Events under 'Outdoor Event'

Hike leader: Nick Conrad, RLT board member

Location: From the City of Rensselaer, go about 3.3 miles south on Route 9J, and turn Right (west) at the Preserve South Entrance sign onto Staats Island Rd.; go .25 mi., cross the Amtrak tracks, and turn right into the Papscanee Island Nature Preserve parking lot.

Enjoy a walk through the Papscanee Island Nature Preserve, 156 acres along the Hudson River across from Albany. Inhabited by the Mohican Indians for thousands of years, the preserve was returned to the Mohican Nation last year, and the Rensselaer Land Trust holds a conservation easement on the land. The preserve boasts a variety of habitats, including woods, marsh, riverbank, and floodplain. This riparian setting is an example of nature reinventing itself. Over 30 acres of the preserve are still farmed today, giving the land the distinction of being under active agriculture longer than any other lands in the U.S. Three miles of easy but uneven trails include the Hudson River shoreline.

Hike leader: Joe Durkin, Preserve Steward and RLT board member

Location: 

The John B. Staalesen Vanderheyden Preserve in South Troy is one of several Rensselaer Land Trust preserves that provide opportunities for the public to connect with nature. The Preserve protects some of Troy’s limited remaining undeveloped open space. Its location in the middle of a residential development in Troy makes it easy for city residents to visit and explore a natural area.

The Staalesen Preserve includes 24 acres of fields, woods, and wetlands, and is bordered on one side by the Wynants Kill. Part of the Preserve has an open park‐like feel due to its history of human activity and recent municipal infrastructure improvements. The remainder of the Preserve has more natural habitats, including floodplain (streamside) forest and a marsh. The preserve provides habitat for a wide variety of wildlife, including deer, pileated woodpecker, wild turkey, and belted kingfisher.

Directions: The main entrance to the John B. Staalesen Vanderheyden Preserve is in South Troy off Campbell Avenue at the end of Wynantskill Way in the Vanderhayden Estates residential development. Campbell Avenue runs from Route 4 at the Burden Pond Park up to Spring Ave, which in turn intersects with Pawling Avenue (NYS Route 66). From the intersection of Wynantskill Way and Campbell Avenue, just east of the intersection of Campbell Avenue and Spring Avenue, take Wynantskill Way to its end and continue straight ahead past the metal gate to the parking area next to the Capital Roots community garden.

Hike leader: Tom Phillips, Member of RLT's Board of Directors

Location: RLT’s Geiser Preserve is a beautiful wooded 95 acres on Perigo Hill on the Rensselaer Plateau, with rocky knolls, and hemlock-maple-beech woods. Since the Geiser Preserve is set well back from a public road, this will be a longer hike, about 4.5 miles roundtrip with a short moderately steep ascent to the summit of Perigo Hill, and will take about three hours.

Directions:  We will meet in Taborton at the parking lot on the shore of Little Bowman Lake across from Union Church of Christ Zion at 741 Taborton Road, Sand Lake.

 

Hike leader: Nick Conrad, Member of RLT's Board of Directors

Location:

The Dyken Pond Easements contain a total of 86 forested acres adjoining the Dyken Pond Environmental Education Center in the Town of Grafton. A network of two miles of marked trails connects to trails at the Dyken Pond Center. The trails are open to the public for hiking, nature viewing, skiing, snowshoeing, and birding, subject to the rules and regulations of the Dyken Pond Center.

Most of the land is covered with hemlock and northern hardwoods such as sugar maple, yellow birch, black cherry, and beech, with some areas of spruce‐northern hardwood forest and spruce flats, forest types known primarily from the Adirondacks. The properties also contain a spring, a large vernal pool, red maple‐hardwood swamp, and part of a spruce‐fir swamp. Teal Brook flows through these properties. Spring wildflowers include painted trillium. A cistern and an abandoned family cemetery dating from the early 1800s attest to the past human history of the area.

Directions:  We'll meet at the main parking lot of the Dyken Pond Center, at the end of Dyken Pond Road. Be sure to use the Dyken Pond Road in Grafton, not the one in Berlin. This Dyken Pond Road is 2 1/2 miles -- as you're driving it be assured the Center is indeed up ahead. Do not use your car GPS. To find directions go to Dyken Pond's website here.

Hike leader: Peter Wood, Ingalls Preserve Land Steward

Location: 

The Preserve is named in memory of former Vice President and longtime Board member Bob Ingalls.

The 50 acres of the Robert Ingalls Preserve consist of mixed hardwood‐hemlock‐pine forests, including some very large trees. Black Brook, a native trout‐spawning stream, flows through a picturesque ravine. A bench provides an idyllic spot to view Black Brook rushing over the rocks. The slopes above the brook have many wet seeps and springs, offering habitat for spring wildflowers, ferns, mosses and liverworts. There are remnants of earlier human use including stone walls, an abandoned logging road, and a small foundation possibly once a small mill. These remnants indicate prior agricultural use of this land where the forest has grown back.

The Robert Ingalls Preserve is open for fishing, hiking, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, and birding. From the parking lot, a trail leads directly down to Black Brook and the bench. A short trail continues on that side of the brook, and a bridge over Black Brook allows access to the more extensive trail network on the other side.

Learn more here.

Directions: 

The Robert Ingalls Preserve is located in the Town of Stephentown. The parking area is on Garfield Road just west of the intersection of Horse Heaven Rd (County Route 23) and Garfield Rd (County Route 26). From the intersection of Garfield Road and NY Route 66 in East Nassau (.3 mile south of the East Nassau Post Office), go 2.5 miles east on Garfield Road to the parking area on the left.

If you are using a GPS, the closest house coming from Route 66 is 508 Garfield Rd, East Nassau, NY. The Preserve comes up next on the left. Coming from the other direction, the closest house is 546 Garfield Road, East Nassau, NY, and the Preserve comes up next on the right.

Hike leader: Peter Wood, Ingalls Preserve Land Steward

Location: 

The Preserve is named in memory of former Vice President and longtime Board member Bob Ingalls.

The 50 acres of the Robert Ingalls Preserve consist of mixed hardwood‐hemlock‐pine forests, including some very large trees. Black Brook, a native trout‐spawning stream, flows through a picturesque ravine. A bench provides an idyllic spot to view Black Brook rushing over the rocks. The slopes above the brook have many wet seeps and springs, offering habitat for spring wildflowers, ferns, mosses and liverworts. There are remnants of earlier human use including stone walls, an abandoned logging road, and a small foundation possibly once a small mill. These remnants indicate prior agricultural use of this land where the forest has grown back.

The Robert Ingalls Preserve is open for fishing, hiking, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, and birding. From the parking lot, a trail leads directly down to Black Brook and the bench. A short trail continues on that side of the brook, and a bridge over Black Brook allows access to the more extensive trail network on the other side.

Learn more here.

Directions: 

The Robert Ingalls Preserve is located in the Town of Stephentown. The parking area is on Garfield Road just west of the intersection of Horse Heaven Rd (County Route 23) and Garfield Rd (County Route 26). From the intersection of Garfield Road and NY Route 66 in East Nassau (.3 mile south of the East Nassau Post Office), go 2.5 miles east on Garfield Road to the parking area on the left.

If you are using a GPS, the closest house coming from Route 66 is 508 Garfield Rd, East Nassau, NY. The Preserve comes up next on the left. Coming from the other direction, the closest house is 546 Garfield Road, East Nassau, NY, and the Preserve comes up next on the right.

Hike leader: Joe Durkin, Member of RLT's Board of Directors and Nick Conrad, RLT Acquistions Committee Chairman

Location: Burden Pond Preserve is near the Iron Works Grill which has an address of 15 Campbell Ave in Troy.  

Directions:  The parking is at intersection of Mill St and Campbell Ave in parking area next to the laundromat; across Campbell Ave from the Stewart's. Also next to the Iron Works Grill which has an address of 15 Campbell Ave.,Troy.
 

Hike leader: Bob Simoni, RLT Preserve Steward

Location: Featherweald Nature Preserve is a 44-acre protected area with two miles of woodland trails. Look up to the treetops to see the great blue heron rookery, and enjoy the seasonal views of the Hoosic River. Located in northern Rensselaer County and southern Washington County, a total of 230 species of biota have been observed at Featherweald Preserve including 171 plants, 54 animals, and five fungi.The preserve offers excellent bird watching opportunities. 

Directions: 187 County Route 59, Cambridge, NY 12816. Parking is located at the entrance near the preserve's blue road sign.To learn more about Featherweald Preserve click here.