Choate Sanctuary
Trail Map

[Trail Descriptions] [Sanctuary Description] [Travel Directions]

Trail Descriptions

The White Oak Trail, marked with white, begins at the sanctuary entrance which borders a small marsh at the corner of Crow Hill Road and Route 133 (Millwood Road). The trail crosses a small footbridge over a stream edged with jewelweed in summer. The trail continues to a "T" intersection with the Hickory Trail to the left (see below) and the White Oak Trail continuing to the right. The White Oak Trail makes a loop through the rolling hills and stone walls of this overgrown pasture land. Along the way, the trail passes massive rock cliffs of Fordham Gneiss, one of the principal underlying rocks of Westchester County.

The stone walls that cross the hills of Choate Sanctuary were originally built as fences for sheep or pig pastures before the turn of the century. The rockiness and thin soil of this land made it unsuitable for crops. Stone walls offer their own microhabitats for small mammals, snakes and invertebrates. With winter snow, look for weasel tracks atop and across the stone walls.

The Hickory Trail, marked with yellow, passes through a forest of black birch, various oaks and hickories across a steep hillside that overlooks Route 133. Along this trail, one can see four different Lycopodia (small evergreen ground plants): ground cedar, ground pine, running pine and shining club moss. This trail also passes more of the dramatic rock formations that characterize this sanctuary.

The Swamp Loop, marked with blue, explores the Town of New Castle parcel leased to the Society in 1997. This trail passes through upland rocky forest that is gradually succeeding from black birch and mixed maple species to American beech and oak species. Red-tailed hawks are often observed in this area and are recorded nesters in the sanctuary. The eastern section of this trail travels along the edge of a red maple swamp and small stream. Spring peeper frogs may be heard here in spring. In spring and fall, this is a good location to observe migrating warblers and thrushes.

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Online Maps for Sanctuaries with Walking Trails

[Brinton Brook Sanctuary] [Choate Sanctuary] [Graff Sanctuary]
[Haas Sanctuary] [Pinecliff Sanctuary] [Pruyn Sanctuary]

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