7. Constitution Marsh Sanctuary

Distance:	Dayhike
Difficulty :	Easy for children
Distance :	2 miles, round trip
Hiking time :	1.5 hours
High point/elevation gain :	140 feet, 140 feet
Hikable :	Year-round
Map :	USGS West Point and NY-NJ Trail Conference Map 1

The route we've chosen here takes in a nearby brook and waterfall, as well as Constitution Marsh Sanctuary. This National Audubon Society property has a nature trail, an Indian rock shelter, and an active marsh accessed by a boardwalk. The hike's best feature, though, is its length: all of this neat stuff is crammed into 2 easy miles.

From New York City, take the Taconic State Parkway north and exit onto Route 301 heading west toward Cold Spring. After 8 miles, you'll come to the Cold Spring traffic light. Turn left and head south on NY Route 9D. After 2 miles, turn right onto Indian Brook Road. Follow Indian Brook Road for 0.5 mile and park in the National Audubon parking area on the right (do not park on the road or the private property that borders this site).

From the parking area, walk to your right and follow the gravel woods road that heads southwest. Pass through a gate and drop gradually along the road that leads in 0.25 mile to the Audubon Nature Center and Museum. The private property on the right side of the road is bordered by a stone wall (please don't cross onto private land); to the left, Indian Brook cascades through a deep gorge. If you hike in the spring, you may witness snapping turtles depositing eggs on the hillside that plummets toward the brook; if you visit late in the summer, look for the newly hatched baby turtles plodding toward the marsh.

The entrance road to the sanctuary is lined with nearly forty species of trees and shrubs. As you follow the road down from its starting elevation of 200 feet to the marsh at sea level, the trees gradually give way to marsh vegetation. Among the first species you'll encounter on your way down the road is a mockernut hickory on the left. Wood from this tree is used for furniture, flooring, and baseball bats, and is also valued as firewood for smoking hams and bacon. Farther along on the right is a large butternut tree, which produces characteristic large, edible nuts, the husks of which are used to make dyes. Farther on the left is an eastern hemlock, scarred with cavities chiseled by woodpeckers. Look just to the left of the hemlock to see two small striped maples. Also known as moosewood, striped maples can be easily identified by the green and white vertical stripes on the bark. As you get closer to the marsh, trees that like to have their feet wet, such as black willow, speckled alder, and slippery elm, take over and then give way to grassy marsh vegetation.

A foot trail leaves the western side of the nature center, drops briefly through the woods following signs saying "to marsh," and splits. The left (south) fork leads to the boardwalk, and the right (north) branch wanders toward the Indian shelter. Turn left for now (you'll visit the Indian shelter later) and follow the narrow, blue-blazed trail as it squeezes between a lush cattail marsh on the left and a dry, rocky slope on the right. The trail curls to the right at the tip of the peninsula and climbs steeply up the rocky hillside, where a thick rope strung along the ledge aids hikers.

At the top of this rugged ridge, crowded with pitch pine, a bench beckons hikers to rest and gaze at the nearby marsh and river, and at the distant layers of mountains stretching westward. When you're ready, plunge down the northern side of this rough knoll. One-quarter mile from the nature center, a boardwalk leads through Constitution Marsh. In 2001, the old wooden boardwalk that originally extended 300 feet into the marsh was replaced with a new, much longer (1000 feet) wood and steel structure. Called Jim's Walk in memory of Jim Rod, the marsh's longtime steward, the boardwalk opens out into stunning views across the open marsh, taking in the mountains of the Hudson Highlands with Storm King (Hike 8) looming to the south and Blue Hill rising on the northern horizon. Constitution Island and West Point Military Academy are directly across the river.

Because the Hudson River is an estuary, its water level fluctuates with the tides. The boardwalk may be close to the surface of the water or far above it. At low tide, shorebirds, gulls, egrets, and herons stalk the exposed mud flats. Indeed, the marsh is teeming with many species of birds, especially during the spring and fall migrations. Late-summer hikers visiting as dusk approaches sometimes witness tens of thousands of swallows descending on the marsh at once. Some ornithologists believe that the birds gather here each year in preparation for a mass migration. Constitution Marsh is so important for bird life that it has been designated as New York State's fifth Bird Conservation Area (BCA).

This 270-acre freshwater tidal marsh nourishes an enormous network of plant and animal life, including more than 100 bird species. Red-winged blackbirds, which use the cattail fibers to build their nests, are noisy neighbors to marsh wrens, which devise intricate homes from dead cattail leaves. Bald eagles soar over the marsh, usually in the winter months. Shrimp and blue crabs move silently among the marsh plants. Smell the ocean, hear the clang of distant buoy bells, feel the crisp breeze that moves among the cattails. Also look for muskrat lodges and feeding platforms tucked among the cattails.

One of the best ways to see Constitution Marsh is from a canoe in the water. Access is restricted, but the site managers often run guided canoe trips that are suitable for older children and parents, even with no canoeing experience. Contact the site for details.

A visit to this serene, seemingly undisturbed cove offers parents a chance to share with their kids a disturbing chapter in the state's environmental history. A battery factory, built in 1952 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Cold Spring, discharged highly toxic cadmium, nickel, and cobalt into nearby Foundry Cove for twenty-seven years, creating one of the country's most dangerous hazardous waste sites. These dangerous heavy metals, soaked up by the muck at the bottom of the marsh, were absorbed first by the cattails, and then by every animal that fed on any part of the cattails. Once an ecosystem has been so greatly distorted, it is extremely difficult to return it to its natural state. Although dredging Constitution Marsh itself to remove the toxic waste would cause more harm than good, remediation has taken place in nearby Foundry Cove. The marsh itself is perfectly safe to visit.

Return to the junction near the Audubon building, where the left branch of the path leads in 0.1 mile to the Indian shelter. Let the kids run ahead to investigate the great overhanging glacial erratic boulder that split to form a narrow cave. Small groups or families sought shelter here as recently as 400 years ago (and as far back as 5000 years). The floor was deeper then, and the cave was enclosed by walls of bark. The former inhabitants of this shelter drew water from a nearby spring, used local clay deposits for pot making, fished in the Hudson River, and hunted near its banks.

From the Indian shelter, return to your car the way you came. But don't stop here! Since you've walked only a little more than 1 mile, pass your car, heading northeastward on gravel Indian Brook Road. In 0.15 mile, you walk under the NY-9D bridge and see massive stone pillars bracing a rusty iron gate on the right side of the road. Sidestep the left pillar and follow the old carriage road blocked by the gate. Quickly, the road curls right and crosses Indian Brook on a stone bridge.

After you cross the bridge, turn left, departing the carriage road to head northeastward on a narrow foot trail. Follow the southern bank of the brook under a hemlock ceiling. Notice how dark it is beneath these trees. How many plants are growing on the damp, shaded forest floor under the giant hemlocks? The trail cut into the steep ridge is level, though rugged. When the brook isn't swollen, kids will find it easier to hike along the water's edge. One-tenth mile from the bridge, 0.35 mile from your car, is delightful Indian Brook Falls. The kids can play in the sand and wade in the pool beneath the falls. Return to your car along Indian Brook Road.

Note: The trails at Constitution Marsh Sanctuary, a National Audubon Society property, are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pets are not allowed.