PO Box 589
Saugerties, NY 12477
845.247.0664
Esopuscreekconservancy.org

Esopus Creek Conservancy (ECC) is an all volunteer, not-for-profit land trust established in 2003. It serves as steward of the 161- acre Esopus Bend Nature Preserve, situated along a dramatic bend in the Esopus Creek offering four hiking trails and scenic views of the creek. ECC is supported by dozens of volunteers and Friends of the Esopus Creek Conservancy. The conservancy depends on its volunteers and supporters to advance its mission, that is to conserve significant natural landscapes in the lower Esopus Creek watershed and the Saugerties area by:

• protecting the rural
  character of the environment,
• conserving and protecting
  natural habitats,
• promoting biodiversity,
• sharing an appreciation of
  our natural resources with,
  the community through public
  outreach, education and advocacy.

Governed by a board of directors, the conservancy has several committees where volunteers perform ECC's essential work. To learn more about how we got started, how you can get involved, when guided hikes and nature walks are offered, or to download an Esopus Bend trail map, go to our Web site at www.esopuscreekconservancy.org

Esopus Bend Nature Preserve

Esopus Creek Conservancy, the land trust that owns and stewards Esopus Bend Nature Preserve, opened it to the public in 2004 and offers a variety of activities including: guided nature walks, birding field trips, animal tracking adventures, butterfly walks, kayak and canoe tours of the preserve's shoreline, and educational field trips for school groups. The preserve, with its four hiking trails and scenic location along a dramatic bend in the Esopus Creek, is a unique 161-acre preserve situated less than a mile from the Hudson River.

Esopus Bend has a rich concentration of habitats including small streams, swamps, marshes, wet meadows, vernal pools, and both wooded and open uplands. Formerly farmland, now a diverse natural ecosystem, the preserve is host to an array of flora and fauna. Its diversity is also evident in its landscape. Lowland meadows and state-designated wetlands lie in a flood plain. Sloping forests rim the northern reaches, and a flood plain forest leads to hemlock cover. The carriage trail lies along a Lower Devonian limestone ridge, and the entire preserve is interlaced with drainage channels and swales that add to the complexity and mystery of the natural environment.

So, come and enjoy. Stay awhile and return often. Take a solo or guided nature walk. Discover butterflies fluttering in the meadow. Enjoy wildflowers blooming. Observe migrating birds in spring and fall. Catch a glimpse of eagles perched on the river birches and discover swans nesting in the cove. Spy a spotted turtle sunning on a log and watch blue herons in flight above the creek.

Directions
To visit the preserve, take 9W south in the Village of Saugerties and after crossing the Esopus Creek bridge, go a short distance and make a right onto Overbaugh Street. Next, make take a left onto Simmons Drive, a right onto Appletree Drive and a left onto Shady Lane. There is a parking lot that can accommodate a few cars. However, because of the very limited parking at the entrance to the preserve, visitors are encouraged to park in the Simmons Plaza parking lot on 9W, or at the Saugerties village beach, and walk or carpool to the Shady Lane entrance.

Visitors can also launch their kayaks or canoes into the Esopus Creek from the Saugerties village beach at the end of Partition Street and paddle the three and one-half miles to the rapids. Across from the beach you can examine the wetland cove and enjoy the view of the preserve from the water.

For more information about the preserve and its fascinating history, or to learn about scheduled events and to download a trail map, go to www.esopuscreekconservancy.org.