The City Concealed. Staten Island Greenbelt

Before we knew about the Greenbelt, we were looking for the Heyerdahl House, the ruins of an 1800s stone home in Bucks Hollow. Following directions found online, we made our way to a trailhead and proceeded to get lost in the woods. After about an hour of hiking through a forested swamp still wet in late spring, we realized that we didn't need the house. The trails were special enough on their own. Secluded in the woods with nothing but trees in vision or earshot, we were impressed to find a place like this in New York City.

For a few months we casually sought a guide to these trails and learned that the area we hiked was part of a much larger complex of greenspace called the Greenbelt, managed by the Greenbelt Conservancy.

We returned in the fall with Greenbelt advocates Kathleen Vorwick and Dorothy Reilly to find a forest of yellows, browns, and red and a swamp dried out from the summer months. As we learned more about the area's sites, history, and preservation efforts it became clear that much would have to be left out of the video. As the trail map on the Greenbelt Conservancy website reveals, the Greenbelt offers New Yorkers diverse sites that call to be experienced year-round.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Staten Island
• Greenbelt
• New York City
• hiking
• parks

[SandraNJ1]

Wonderful video with unexpected insights about the borough so many only drive though and never see. What an incredibly special view of what is seen by so few.

[lulukisskiss77]

@LAINIE612 hey i was thing about hiking there i was just wondering if was free or do you have to pay for it and if so how much is it

[LAINIE612]

I have fallen in love with this area !! My friend and I hike the trails all the time.