Christiana Natural Area(East Glenville)

Sometimes your days off fall on rainy days...and there's not a lot you can do about it.  Thankfully, the rain stopped about 2:30pm and left me a window to get out to do some exploring.  I headed over to East Glenville to visit the 48 acre Christiana Natural Area, which can be found along the north side of Onderdonk Road.  A small, unmarked parking area provides access.  I dropped down to a kiosk with trail map at the trailhead.

 I started out on the very damp blue marked trail, which hugs the eastern edge of a large wetland. 

 The upper reaches of the Indian Kill flow this property.  A couple of well built foot bridges help to cross the creek.

 I stumbled across a stone wall, marking a probable land boundary or pastureland from long ago.

 The blue trail winds around a very large wetland.

 The Indian Kill passes through this wetland, whose headwaters are under a mile northwest of here.

 The blue trail loops around the north side of the wetland, which was extremely damp and actually underwater in many sections.  I lost the trail in several spots and did my best to keep my feet dry, but failed.  I finally found my way to the yellow trail on the northwest side of the wetland, where a very nice footbridge is literally an island surrounded by water.

 The yellow trail swings back along the west side of the property back towards the parking area.  Unfortunately, much of the trail is very overgrown with old, rotting boards over damp areas.

This area is in bad need of TLC, but does provide an interesting look at a large wetland with a diverse bird population. Hiked a little over one mile RT, both on and off trail.