Adirondack Heron Marsh Trail
Nature Hiking With Grandkids
We took 2 of the grandkids to the Paul Smith Visitor Interpretive Center today. We first went into the VIC center building to learn more about the “Forever Wild” history of the Adirondack Mountains.
“The Adirondack Park is the largest publicly-protected area in the contiguous United States, encompassing about six million acres.
- The Adirondack Park is a mixture of state and private land.
- The region has over 3,000 lakes, 30,000 miles of river and streams, 42 peaks over 4,000 feet, and a wide variety of habitats, including globally unique wetland types and old growth forests.
Although virtually no areas of the Adirondack Park have completely escaped the impact of human activity, for many people in the northeast, the Adirondack Park is the most accessible way to experience “wilderness,” in the sense of exploring and enjoying a relatively unspoiled natural habitat.” (Source)
We decided to walk one of the many nature trails. We chose the Heron Marsh Trail, a trail around the nearby wetland areas. The trail starts and ends at the Visitor Interpretive Center.
The three-mile Heron Marsh Trail takes visitors through prime wildlife viewing areas. The path includes a variety of Adirondack habitats, including wetlands, northern hardwood forests, and mixed wood forests. There is a lot to see and investigate. In the photo above, our grandson stopped to watch squirrels in the trees.
Benches along the way allow visitors to sit and enjoy the views of the marshy areas. We looked but didn’t see any of the Great Blue Herons today.
We saw freshwater crayfish in the water. There were loads of dragonflies flying over the water. Waterlilies were blooming on the surface of the water. I explained that the waterlily plants have roots in the bottom, then long stalks growing up to the surface, with leaves floating on the water.
What a view.
We enjoyed the contrast of the quiet and still waters of the marsh compared to the rapidly flowing waters just a few feet away as the marsh water dropped to a lower level. (My grandson used the long exposure on my iPhone to get the rapidly flowing water at the dam.)
I find it interesting that we are standing in the Saint Lawrence River watershed. “The Lake Champlain Watershed (8,234 square miles) drains the area between the Adirondack Mountains in northeastern New York State and the Green Mountains in northwestern Vermont. The long, narrow and deep lake has its outlet at its northern end where it flows through the Richelieu River into Quebec and empties into the Saint Lawrence River.” (Source)
We tried to keep the grandkids fairly clean and dry but they were in the water every few minutes. They were either investigating what they saw in the water or they were climbing on rocks over the water. They had a blast.
As they were climbing on the boulders in the water, they were thrilled to see an otter suddenly appear, and then disappear into the forest. Exciting!
The trail was over 3 miles long. That isn’t very long, but it took us over 2 hours to do because we were investigating everything we saw. It was a wonderful day near and in the waters of the marsh.
This photo essay was a response to In Living Color’s July writing prompt.
Another Adirondack story from me:
Michelle Lawson is a volunteer who tests for water quality
