1. No bugs. You won’t be pestered by mosquitoes or blackflies, and you needn’t worry about Lyme disease. That’s not to say that insects are such a big deal the rest of the year, but some of us are more sensitive than others.

2. New views. Everything looks different in winter, and trails that you’ve walked a hundred times will be completely new to you. But of course the big thing is that the leaves are down, so the sight lines are vastly longer and wider.

3. Landforms. Unless you’re a geologist, it’s hard to see the “bones” of the land when it’s covered by greenery. So once the beauty of new views pales, you’ll find that the unusual and dramatic geologic formations on EBNP come to the fore.

4. Ski/Snowshoe/Skate. Do you need (another) reason to love winter? Once the snow flies EBNP trails are a great place to use your winter gear. You can snowshoe anywhere on the Preserve without much difficulty. X-C skiing ranges from flat and easy on most of the trails to moderately difficult on a few of the sidehill trails.

5. Animal Tracking. Fresh snow reveals that an astonishing number and variety of critters call EBNP home or pass through on their way to somewhere else.

6. Birds. Likewise, the cast of characters changes in the winter months. EBNP, cold as it might seem, is quite a bit warmer than where some birds spend their summer, and the Preserve is close enough to the Atlantic flyway that you have a good chance to seeing many species on their way to or from the seasonal homes.

7. Cabin Fever. Winter Blues. Whatever you call it, the best antidote is a good walk and a blast of fresh air.

8. Vitamin D and Seasonal Affective Disorder. The Preserve has a special house blend of sunshine found nowhere else on the planet. Maybe the added Vitamin D your body makes won’t cure SAD, but it’ll put a smile on your face and roses on your cheeks.

9. Winter Weight. We guarantee that if you walk the EBNP trails 3-4 times a week your swimsuits will fit better next summer.

10. How many times can you hike Overlook before you go crazy?

by Joel Schuman

Photo by Dave Cartmell

Addressing four classes of third graders from Mount Marion Elementary School last Thursday, Bolitzer said she hoped their experience in the preserve would reach countless others in the area. “It’s hard getting in here, because you have to go through all these streets,” said Bolitzer, who stood before around 70 students and several teachers and teaching assistants at the Shady Lane entrance of the preserve in Barclay Heights. “It’s kind of a secret in Saugerties, and we want to let the secret out.”

The relationship between the Esopus Creek Conservancy and the Saugerties Central School District has blossomed in recent years. Every fall, third grade students from the four elementary schools in the district get the opportunity to learn about the local environment by visiting the preserve. They return in the spring to see how things change from season to season, as do kids in other grades right up through junior and senior high.

Third graders at Mount Marion, at least based on their trip to the preserve, are inquisitive and engaged. They carried with them a nature scavenger hunt checklist so they could keep track of what they encountered while on their trip. Frogs, moss, sand bars, fossils and other possible natural wonders were among the possibilities. Students were also asked to draw pictures of trees, and identifying them by their leaves, an extension of their work in the classroom since the beginning of the school year nearly two months earlier. “We study the water cycle,” said third grade teacher Lorraine Collins. “We study the butterfly life cycle, which is great, because when we go down into the meadow in the springtime, we’re able to see different kinds of butterflies.” Collins said the importance of being able to see in nature things students may have previously only seen in books or in display cases can not be measured. “It’s very valuable to be able to go out on a hike and for kids to learn their environment and the nature part of their local lands and habitat,” she said.

The enthusiasm of the students before they broke off into groups led by teachers was palpable in the crisp autumn air. “I’m looking forward to seeing how many different kinds of leaves and what kinds of trees I can find,” said eight-year-old Summer MacDonald, who added that her favorite kind was maple. James Jarman, also eight, was more interested in the possibility of coming across some wildlife. “I want to see how many different kinds of animals I can find,” he said. “Maybe like deer, maybe some fish, frogs and snakes and squirrels. Snakes, I like the best.” Like some of the other children, Jarman said he’d been to the preserve before. “I came in the summer, and I saw like crayfish and stuff down by the water,” he said.

That’s exactly the sort of thing Bolitzer likes to hear. “This is your preserve,” she said to the students. “When you grow up, maybe you’ll want to do some kind of work like this, helping preserve nature and learning about nature. [The Esopus Creek Conservancy] only got to own and run the preserve basically because we agreed to open it to everybody. We’re very happy you get the chance to come and see it.”

Collins said she’s heard of many students who’ve experienced the preserve for the first time as part of the school’s visit, only to be so smitten with it that they returned before too long. “They always want to come back,” she said. “They do come with their parents. We send them home with the map, and their parents are intrigued.”

Bolitzer said she believes one of the conservancy’s most important roles in the community is providing a place for kids to visit and enjoy. “We think that your coming to visit us and use the preserve to learn and enjoy nature is probably one of the best things that we do,” she said to the students. “There are bridges and the trails are nice. We try to make it especially nice for children coming through, because we think that you’re very, very important. We want to keep the world this way.”

Even with the four classes not marching through the preserve en masse, it’s still a tall order for them to be quiet enough to see what they might see were they to return with a parent. “If you are very, very quiet when you go through the trail, and you’re so quiet you can barely even hear, you’re going to hear things and see things,” Bolitzer said. “We have seen fox. There are coyotes, but they don’t come out around daytime at all. There are wild turkeys and there are deer.”

Collins said the kids not only love seeing how different the preserve is from season to season, but also exploring new areas they’ve never visited before. “Last spring we were able to go in another section, which was the Wetlands Trail and the Meadow Trail,” she said. “We spent the whole day here, and the kids really enjoyed that. They were able to see beaver dams and different parts of the Esopus Bend Nature Preserve.”

The students, clipboards in hands, marched off with teachers, stopping every now and again to look closely at the moss on a fallen tree trunk, or a worm they might ordinarily only see on the grass beside the playground. They might not have been quiet enough to catch a glimpse of a fox or a snake. But what they took away with them was worth much more.

by Crispin Kott

This article appeared in a recent issue of the Saugerties Times and is posted here with permission.

SAUGERTIES — The sound of traffic can sometimes be heard faintly in the distance, but under the lush trees and forested walkways of the Esopus Bend Nature Preserve, it is easy for visitors to forget the world outside and enjoy their surroundings.

The 161-acre preserve is owned and managed by the Esopus Creek Conservancy, a local non-profit organization formed to protect the land. The preserve is home to over 160 species of birds, 58 species of butterflies, and a number of different salamanders, frogs and turtles, among other animal and plant life.

“It’s a varied landscape,” conservancy Secretary Spider Barbour said. He said there are approximately 20 different habitats on the preserve.

Visitors can hike along one of four marked trails that loop through different areas of the preserve. One trail leads through a meadow, which is where most of the different butterflies can be found, while another passes through a mixed hemlock forest. Half of the preserve borders the Esopus Creek, offering water views and access to hikers and individuals who want to get to the land via canoe or kayak. Water access is possible at one of two “sand spits” on the preserve along the creek.

The four trails are called the Schroeder Trail, the South Trail, the Meadow Trail and the Wetlands Trail. Handicapped access might be added to the preserve in the future or a senior citizens trail with an area where younger kids can play and explore, conservancy members said.

When the Esopus Creek Conservancy took over the land, formerly the Schroeder Farm, about five years ago, the property had been abused, said Steve Chorvas, the conservancy’s treasurer and co-chairman of the Stewardship and Land Management Committee. He said all-terrain vehicles had crisscrossed the land, causing damage and the conservancy had to remove more than 1,000 old tires.

Conservancy President Susan Bolitzer said the organization also removed nine abandoned vehicles and had to regrade what is now known as the Schroeder Trail. She said that trail was extremely rutted by all-terrain vehicles and was impossible to navigate.

Now visitors can use the Schroeder Trail off Shady Lane in Barclay Heights to access the preserve. The trail slopes gently downwards through the forest and connects at one point to the South Trail via a manmade wooden bridge.

“Any trail that you walk on here loops,” Chorvas said. “So, if you’re lost, keep walking.”

Chorvas said the conservancy, which is made up entirely of volunteers, keeps making improvements to the preserve. He said the conservancy created a boardwalk and bridge last year and has a major boardwalk project upcoming in the wetlands area of the preserve. Chorvas added that because there is no electricity on the preserve, volunteers have to prepare their projects before bringing them onto the preserve for assembly.

“Everything here is done by volunteers,” Chorvas said. He said volunteers maintain the preserve, do capital improvement projects and patrol the trails to check for any repairs that might be needed and to look for vandalism or improper use of the land. Chorvas said the preserve is surrounded in part by over 100 residences and in the past has had all the trail markers stolen. He said there has also been a problem with people trying to use the property to access the creek for swimming, which is prohibited due to the conservancy’s liability insurance. Chorvas, added though, that many neighbors are pleased with the conservancy taking over the property and maintaining the land.

Bolitzer said the conservancy also hosts a number of activities at the preserve and opens it to local school groups for educational purposes. She said all the third-grade classes in the Saugerties school district visit the preserve with their teachers and will be joined by fifth- and ninth-graders in the future. Bolitzer said the teachers get training through the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development and then utilize that curriculum and their own materials to educate their students.

The students and their teachers do such things as a scavenger hunt, a water study and tree and leaf studies, Bolitzer said.

“The kids love it,” she added.

The conservancy also hosts approximately two nature walks a month and several different activities during the year. Upcoming activities include a butterfly walk and slide presentation on Aug. 1, an animal tracking adventure on Aug. 24, and a kayak and canoe tour of Esopus Bend on Aug. 30.

Bolitzer said since the conservancy is a volunteer agency, more volunteers are always needed. She said those volunteers are needed to keep the preserve open.

The preserve is open from dawn to dusk, year-round. Rules of the preserve include: Park only in designated areas; stay within property boundaries; stay on marked trails; be considerate of other visitors; always hike with a friend; keep pets leashed; clean up after pets; do no remove or destroy plants, wildlife or artifacts; and carry out what you carry in. Motorized vehicles, bicycles, horses, camping, fires, alcohol and radios are prohibited on the preserve property.

To reach the preserve from U.S. Route 9W in Saugerties, turn onto Overbaugh Street, make a left onto Simmons Drive, right onto Appletree Drive and left onto Shady Lane. There is a small parking lot on Shady Lane near the preserve entrance. Visitors are encouraged to park at Simmons Plaza or the village beach and either walk or carpool to the preserve.

Indeed, it was a wonderful day, and our thanks go out to all those who made this second annual Decks and Docks tour a great success for the Esopus Creek Conservancy (ECC), and indeed, for our town. The proceeds from the tour will help maintain Esopus Bend Nature Preserve, provide school programs and the many activities that this amazing resource makes possible. The tour also brought people into Saugerties and on the Esopus Creek with many out- of- town participants who assured us that they will be back to paddle again and enjoy Saugerties.

We greatly appreciate our local stores: Smith Hardware, The Village Apothecary, Partition Street Wines, and Hudson Valley Dessert who graciously sold tickets. Thank you to the village for making the Saugerties beach available and to Krause Candy for allowing the use of its parking lot.

A special thanks goes to Alicia Scott, girl scout assistant volunteer coordinator, for bringing in so many new faces. Key Club members from Saugerties High School and all of the others who wanted to help while having fun. Special thanks also to Logan Callahan who took photos of the event and to Luke Froude and Tom Fisher who filmed for us. Barry Kerr (a very satisfied participant of last year’s tour,) lent invaluable help both with publicity and arranging for Geoff Harden to provide the delightful Bluegrass music on the preserve, and along with Joel Schuman, Lynne Gilson, Gilda Riccardi, and ECC Volunteer Coordinator Rita Galchus who made up our industrious and creative organizational working group. Graphic artist Virginia Luppino created wonderful posters and announcements. Chris Florsch, who with a loyal band of Esopus Bend stewards set the stage (literally and it was no mean feat) for the band, was indispensable to the success of music in the preserve. They also welcomed our guests with refreshments for the Bluegrass concert and tours of the preserve. And we shouldn’t forget to mention Anastasia Redman and all the Lighthouse 23 folks who promoted the event, as well as the Saugerties Times and Saugerties Post Star.

But we couldn’t do it without our gracious hosts and hostesses who opened their properties and welcomed tour-goers. Newcomers to this group were Fred Hirsch and Marcy Pollit, Rich Dooley and Marie Martinez. Carolyn Luce lent the event special significance with her presentation of local and Hudson Valley lore, especially poignant for this Quadracentennial event that was supported by the Natural Heritage Trust this year.

The operative words for Decks and Docks is fun in fundraising. We had fun getting ready for this event, thanks to the exceedingly cooperative spirit of the organizers, and the town and village supporters, and great fun in showcasing Saugerties’ best kept secret – the Esopus Creek above the Dam.

by Susan Bolitzer

Photo by Logan Callahan