24. Tivoli Bays

Distance:	Dayhike
Difficulty :	Easy to moderate for children
Distance :	4.2 miles, round trip
Hiking time :	2.5 hours
High point/elevation gain :	50 feet, 50 feet
Hikable :	March-December
Map :	USGS Saugerties

Buy or borrow a birdwatching guidebook and binoculars, check the tide schedule, and then head for Tivoli Bays National Estuarine Research Reserve. We recommend that you visit in the spring or fall, when the undergrowth is less intrusive and when migrating birds will be stopping here to rest.

Kids who are more interested in frogs and ducks than in viewing distant peaks from a mountain summit will list this hike among their favorites. And adults will emerge from this sanctuary relaxed and refreshed.

From New York City, take the Taconic State Parkway north to the exit for NY-199/Red Hook. Drive west on NY-199 approximately 10 miles to the intersection with NY-9G, west of Red Hook. Follow NY-9G north for 3.5 miles and turn left onto Kidd Lane, just before the village of Tivoli. Follow Kidd Lane for 0.5 mile to the Tivoli Bays parking area on the right.

Tivoli Bays is a large, freshwater tidal wetland surrounded by undeveloped woodlands. The 1640 acres of the reserve are both a wildlife management area managed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and also a unit in the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve (HRNERR). Because it lies along the Hudson River flyway, a natural path for migrating birds, Tivoli Bays is one of the premier birdwatching sites in the mid-Hudson Valley. Large numbers of waterfowl and smaller migratory birds stop here during the migration season to rest and feed before continuing their journeys.

Archaeological digs at Tivoli Bays have turned up Native American artifacts dating back some six thousand years. Until quite recently, the deep coves here were rich in fish and game, but they weren't the wetlands you see now. Tivoli Bays as it appears today was created by humans. In 1850 the New York Central Railroad built railroad tracks on an embankment across the western edge of two deep coves. Openings in the embankment (two in the North Bay and three in the South Bay) closed off the coves but allowed tidal water to flow in and out. Sediments carried in twice a day by the tidal flow have been accumulating in the bays for 150 years, considerably speeding up the natural process that turns sheltered areas of water into wetlands. The muck at the bottom of the bays now reaches a depth of some twenty-five feet.

Tivoli Bays is really two bays or large coves, North and South, separated by a narrow, swampy peninsula leading to Cruger Island (which really isn't an island anymore). This hike will take you through mixed woodlands to see the cattail marsh of North Bay and then on to explore Cruger Island.

Begin the hike by picking up the North Bay Trail at the western end of the parking area. You'll soon be hiking downhill on a broad gravel trail alongside the burbling Stony Creek through mixed deciduous woodlands. As you enter a hemlock ravine on your way down, look for a waterfall (it might not be there in dry weather). After 0.5 mile, the trail meets a gravel road and parking area. Bear right (west) and continue on a bit farther to the canoe launch. (The best way to see Tivoli Bays is from a canoe in the water. Check with the HRNERR, listed in Contact Addresses, for any ranger-led canoe trips that might be coming up.)

The canoe launch is a good spot to look out over the North Bay and survey the cattail marsh that stretches to the distant railroad tracks separating it from the Hudson River. Amid the dense cattails, purple loosestrife, pickerelweed, and arrowhead, look for marsh- loving birds such as ducks, marsh wrens, and herons. The least bittern, a relatively tiny species of heron, is a master of camouflage, and extremely difficult to spot. Listen for its call, especially in early summer, a soft "coo-coo-coo." Peer into the water: a great many snapping turtles live in the bay, in addition to bass, perch, and minnows. What do you see?

Poll the kids: do they think the water in this marsh is fresh- or saltwater? Now dip in a finger and taste. Even though the tides affect the level of the marsh by as much as 4 feet, the tidal salt front from the ocean is usually pushed back by the force of the fresh water flowing down the river from the north. The salt rarely reaches any farther north than Poughkeepsie, some twenty miles to the south. This is a rare freshwater tidal marsh (see Hike 28 for more on these unusual marshes).

From the canoe launch, head south on the trail for another 0.5 mile along the edge of the marsh. When you arrive at a parking area, continue on. You'll almost immediately come to a junction with Cruger Island Road. Turn right (west) and walk down this muddy causeway, which bisects Tivoli's North and South Bays and leads out to Cruger Island. At high tide, the causeway is usually flooded, sometimes to a height that isn't safe to wade. Time your hike according to the tide schedule. Even at low tide, however, the causeway gets wetter the closer it gets to Cruger Isaland—be prepared for muddy feet.

Dense vegetation crowds the causeway as you track through a red maple, red ash, and black ash swamp. Look into the water for schools of banded killifish, common in both freshwater and saltwater habitats.

Three-tenths of a mile down Cruger Island Trail, the trail opens onto a clearing bisected by railroad tracks. This is an active line, so look and listen carefully as you approach the tracks—trains pass through regularly from both directions. Head over the tracks and angle slightly right to enter dense woods on a narrow foot trail. The daylilies and vinca (periwinkles) that cluster near the initial section of trail are reminders of the 1835 estate of John Cruger, who once owned Cruger Island. The foot trail veers off to the right and heads north on the island through higher and drier ground. The route soon arrives at a pebble beach on the northwest shore of Cruger Island. The Catskill Mountains rise prominently to the west. Look across the river to the cluster of buildings that make up the tiny town of Glasco; Overlook and Plattekill Mountains loom behind. The island to the north is Magdalen Island, a part of the HRNERR accessible only by water. From here, the trail curls left to climb a ridge and then runs south along the western edge of the island. The terrain is heavily eroded here and full of poison Ivy—watch your step.

After another 0.25 mile, a side trail splits left to cut across the island's midsection and join the trail you followed on the way in. Ignore it for now and continue straight on, following the main trail as it opens onto a shale and sandstone beach. Look downstream to see the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge spanning the Hudson. Head across the beach, scaling a rocky, root-choked hillside, with the river on your right. The trail works its way southward on rolling terrain overlooking the river. It's a little hard to find the trail here—if you can't find it, just stay close to the riverbank. Just under 1.5 miles from where you started on Cruger Island Road, the trail ends abruptly atop a grassy bluff at the southern tip of the island. Take a rest on the granite seat overlooking the Hudson and South Bay. Note how South Bay is shallower than North Bay and has different vegetation. In the summer the South Bay is covered by Eurasian water chestnut, a floating plant introduced from Asia. Although the plant is an invasive species, it also shelters insects and baby fish. The hard, black, spiky seed cases, called caltrops, wash up all along the shore.

Return back the way you came. At the trail junction you ignored previously, turn right to rejoin the path from Cruger Island Road. From there, retrace your steps along North Bay back to your car.