Crow’s Nest: More than one entrance

By Daniel Barringer, Preserve Manager

If you’ve traveled all the trails at Crow’s Nest you know that there is more than one way to enter and leave the preserve—our trails connect to others in the neighborhood: Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, State Game Lands #43, and access from local roads near the preserve.

The main place to enter the preserve is the parking lot in the field beyond the barn at 201 Piersol Road. There you find the kiosk with trail maps; from there you can easily reach the Creek Trail or head south to find the more remote Deep Woods and Fox Hill Trails. But there are “You are Here” signs at a couple other access points where you might enter the preserve from adjacent lands. And if you enter from the Baptism Creek Trail at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, you are greeted by this graceful arched tree over a boardwalk built by AmeriCorps volunteers for Hopewell a few years ago.

And don’t forget, if you have downloaded the free “Explore NLT” app you can see on your phone where you are on the preserve and the major trails. Very handy, particularly as you start to explore some of the less-traveled trails.