About an hour south of Albany is a wonderful Preserve tucked away in the back corner of Albany County, New York. The Huyck Preserve offers its visitors hiking, swimming, picnicking, and just respite from the daily grind. This preserve is quite large and, as such, visitors can find themselves some privacy and really feel connected to their natural world.

Huyck Preserve

The Edmund Niles Huyck Preserve was founded in 1931. It was established by the widow of Edmund Niles Huyck, Jessie, after her husband’s death in 1930. She wanted to keep the area pristine and undisturbed for the enjoyment of the people. Originally 500 acres in size, over the years, the Huyck Preserve has been expanded to over 2,000 acres. It was created to protect the watershed around Lake Myosotis, the Rensselaerville Falls, and to study the local biodiversity. Additionally, the preserve was meant to provide a place for people to connect with their natural environment.

The Huyck Preserve is located within a parcel of land that was originally owned by Edmund Niles Huyck’s father. In this parcel, he operated a woolen mills at the base of Rensselaerville Falls. A flood in the late 19th century forced him to relocate the mills to Albany, though the land remained in the ownership of the Huyck family.

Several years after the preserve was founded, in 1938, Cornell University formally established the Biological Research Station within the preserve grounds. As such, it it one of the oldest biological research stations in the United States. Every year the research station offers a Senior Research Fellowship for biology students from Cornell.

Hiking

There is a myriad of over 12 miles of interconnected hiking trails for visitors at the Huyck Preserve. This allows you to hike for as long or as short as you want; a perfect scenario for a family with a toddler! The most well-traversed trail is undoubtedly the Falls Trail that takes you past Rensselaerville Falls up to Lake Myosotis. It’s not a long hike and the view of the falls is stunning.

During this visit, we opted to take the less traveled Wheeler-Watson Trail, up to the Race Track, and then looping around the Partridge Path Loop One before heading back to our car. On the Wheeler-Watson trail, we saw several stone walls indicating historic property boundaries. The trail also takes you past the really interesting Wheeler-Watson cemetery. This historic cemetery is the final resting place for many of the original and early residents from Rensselaerville.

Where is it Located?

The Huyck Preserve is located at 5052 Delaware Turnpike in the heart of Rensselaerville, New York. It is about a 50 minute drive southwest of Albany. For this visit, we parked at the Eldridge Research Center near Lincoln Pond.

Maps

There is a really wonderful trail map located at the preserve’s website here.