The Green Belt (Staten Island)
The Greenbelt, a City of New York flagship park, is comprised of almost 3,000 acres of land dedicated to a range of passive and active recreational activities. Within its boundaries are mature stands of forest, wetlands, lakes, ponds, and streams where one can hike, explore nature, and relax.
There are many distinct natural areas in the Greenbelt including: Latourette Park, Deer Park, Reed's Basket-Willow Swamp, William T Davis Wildlife and Egbertville Ravine. It is also home to New York's only restored historic village, a golf course and boy scout camp. In your travels through the green belt you could encounter over 117 species of species of birds including the glossy ibis, the common nighthawk and the eastern phoebe. Raccoons, rabbits and other mammals make this park home, as well as the opossum! There is also much diversity among the forests: the drier areas are made up of red, black and white oaks, along with hickories, American beech and black birch. Wetter woodland areas include red maple, sweet gum, black tupelo and swamp white oak. Fresh water ponds are plentiful. Hourglass pond is especially lovely when the red maple trees begin blooming in February. All of these areas can be explored when you embark on one of the four main hiking trails within the park.
For more information see: http://www.sigreenbelt.org/
Directions
By bus from the Staten Island Ferry Terminal: Take the S57 bus to the Brielle and Rockland Ave. stop. Cross the street at the light.