Crow’s Nest Preserve
712 acres
April
18
Nature Walks
Alert During this public health crisis, Natural Lands’ nature preserves remain open to the public as places to engage in outdoor activity, such as walking, hiking, or running, which are considered allowable individual activities as part of the stay-at-home orders for both Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Social distancing must be maintained. If the parking lot is full please visit at another time. All public facilities, including restrooms, are closed to the public until further notice. Thank you for your understanding.
Crow’s Nest is the gateway to the Hopewell Big Woods, a 73,000-acre expanse of forest that reaches north into Berks County. Just next door, you’ll find French Creek State Park and Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, making Crow’s Nest part of one of the largest areas of protected land in the region.
The pristine French Creek runs through Crow’s Nest, flowing from French Creek State Park’s Hopewell Lake on its way to the Schuylkill River. The preserve’s streamside forest helps protect the creek’s water quality.
Wildlife abounds at Crow’s Nest! You may spot Wood Ducks or see signs of beaver construction along French Creek; hear the songs of Wood Thrushes, Vireos, and warblers in the dense forests; or track the footprints of fox, raccoon, and deer. The preserve is part of the Hay Creek/French Creek Forest Block “Important Bird Area” (a National Audubon Society designation).
Crow’s Nest is a haven for other wild creatures: children! For decades, the preserve has hosted both after-school programs and a summer day camp to help combat the nature disconnect today’s kids face. The preserve includes a NaturePlayGround to encourage creative, unstructured play, and hosts a variety of outdoor education programs for all ages.
history
Crow’s Nest is composed of several 19th-century farms and the forests that have grown up around them. Most of the forests in this area were cut repeatedly in the 1800s to make charcoal to fuel iron-making furnaces and in the early 1900s for timber.
The land that makes up the preserve was still being farmed in the late 1950s when John Dorrance—once chairman of Campbell Soup Company—began to assemble land for a country retreat. When Dorrance died in 1989, the property was donated to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to be sold and the proceeds used to support the Museum’s endowment. When the subdivided parcels went up for sale, a local family purchased nearly all of them, then conveyed a 79-acre portion to Natural Lands. Over the decades the family has continued to donate more of the preserve to the organization.
Upcoming events at Crow’s Nest Preserve
access to nature. more essential than ever.
Our preserves are open, thanks to member support.
Help us continue our work saving open space, caring for nature, and connecting people to the outdoors.
