HHNM Outdoor Discovery Center

Cornwall, New York

American Tree Sparrows, from “A year with the birds” (1916), Cornell University Library

NOTE FROM THE HUDSON HIGHLANDS NATURE MUSEUM (JUNE 26)

Beginning Monday, July 6, and lasting through Friday August 28, the hiking trails and property will be closed at the Outdoor Discovery Center Monday–Friday and closed at the Wildlife Education Center Wednesday–Friday from 8 am to 4 pm to anyone who is NOT a HHNM summer camper, due to COVID-19-related safety concerns. The trails and property will continue be open to everyone from now through Sunday, July 5, and on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the summer from dawn to dusk.

The entrance to the Hudson Highlands Nature Museum Outdoor Discovery Center (formerly Kenridge Farm) is on Angola Road, approximately a mile south of the traffic circle in Cornwall. This site, which abuts Black Rock Forest, features 6 miles of trails on 177 acres of woods, open brush, fields, and wetlands (trail map).

Depending on the season, nearly 150 species of birds can be observed here,  including warblers (Canada and Magnolia), sparrows (Lincoln’s Sparrows, American Tree Sparrows, and Fox Sparrows), vireos (White-Eyed), Cedar Waxwings, Eastern Bluebirds, owls, and Baltimore and Orchard orioles. Hooded Warblers and Blue-winged Warblers nest on the property, along with Wood Ducks and Canada Geese. In the summer, a Green Heron can almost always be found skulking in the marshy area near the road just below the farmhouse.