North Atlantic

All Parks in North Atlantic, Zero Carbon

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I recently completed visits to all national park units in New York and New England. Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont each count only 1 unique park. Maine has 4, including the only National Park in the region. Massachusetts has 14, and New York has 21 unique park units, plus 2 shared with the Mid Atlantic region and 2 world heritage sites. The multi-region Appalachian and North Country scenic trails start/end in the region, and the New England scenic trail crosses Connecticut and Massachusetts. Follow the links for more, including affiliates, heritage areas and the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route.

Connecticut’s star is Weir Farm, a lovely historic artist home in a rural community. Coltsville is pending. Both heritage areas are shared with Massachusetts: Last Green Valley and Upper Housatonic. Three trails pass through Connecticut: Appalachian, New England and the Rochambeau Route.

Maine has Acadia National Park, France Perkins, Katahdin Woods & Waters, and Saint Croix Island. All four parks showcase the state’s pine woods, clear waters and scenic views, while Perkins celebrates the woman in charge of the New Deal and Saint Croix tells the story of the first French settlers. If you want to hear French spoken, you can visit the Acadian Culture partner village area in the far north, where I hiked as a boy. Mt Katahdin is also the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. The coastal area from Acadia to Saint Croix Island is part of the Downeast Maine heritage area, including the bridge to Campobello in New Brunswick Canada.

All of Massachusetts’ parks are historic, even Boston Harbor Islands and Cape Cod seashore, where the Pilgrims landed. Boston, New Bedford Whaling, Salem Maritime and Saugus Ironworks all predate the Revolution. My hometown site of Minute Man focuses on the Revolution, and Adams, Boston African American, Longfellow-Washington, and Springfield Armory cover both the Independence War and later periods. Blackstone and Lowell cover the Industrial Revolution. And Olmsted and JFK cover more recent history. The Bay State also shares the Blackstone, Essex, Freedoms Way, Last Green Valley and Upper Housatonic heritage areas, the Appalachian and New England scenic trails and the end of the Rochambeau Route. If you love America, you must see its beginnings.

New Hampshire is home to the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ studio and marvelous sculpture garden. Freedoms Way heritage area is shared with Massachusetts, and the Appalachian Trail crosses the state.

New York’s many historic sites begin with the Oneida portage at Fort Stanwix and the African Burial Ground in New Amsterdam (before the British captured the Dutch settlement and renamed it after the Duke of York). Federal Hall and St Paul’s Church illustrate the fight for freedoms that launched the Revolution. Fort Saratoga was a key turning point in that war. Hamilton Grange and Van Buren’s home reveal early American leaders. Castle Clinton and Governors Island preserve harbor forts. Harriett Tubman’s home in upstate New York teaches how she guided slaves to freedom and led a daring raid during the Civil War. Grant’s Memorial honors his service to our country as both general and president. Three sites are devoted to Teddy Roosevelt: his birthplace, inaugural site and Sagamore Hill. Women’s Rights are honored in Seneca Falls and at Eleanor Roosevelt’s home in Hyde Park, near FDR’s home and their neighbor’s modest Vanderbilt Mansion. And last, but not least, the historic Stonewall Monument stands proudly in the city.

Also in New York, Fire Island seashore, Gateway Recreation (shared with New Jersey) and the Upper Delaware River (shared with Pennsylvania) all preserve nature. The Kate Mullany, Lower East Side Tenement and the Thomas Cole sites are great affiliates to visit. The Champlain Valley, Erie Canalway and Niagara Falls heritage areas have miles to explore. The Appalachian hiking trail, John Smith Chesapeake water trail, North Country scenic trail and the Rochambeau Route pass here. New York also has the only world heritage sites in this region: Frank Lloyd Wright‘s Guggenheim and the Statue of Liberty.

Rhode Island protects our religious liberty at Roger Williams and affiliated Touro Synagogue, and the state preserves our mill town history at Blackstone, which extends into Massachusetts within a broader eponymous heritage area. The Rochambeau Route begins here.

Vermont is home to Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller experimental forest, not far from where the Appalachian and North Country scenic trails meet.

Gateway National Recreation Area

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Gateway is multifaceted, but for me the most important part is the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge above. Here there are migratory and year round birds, butterflies, trails, groves of trees and pleasant views. The contrast between the busy planes of JFK and the mute swans could not be more striking. Although the road noise limited my birdsong app, I still lost count at a dozen species. With more time, I would have kayaked around to see more birds.

But for folks interested in other things, the park includes Forts Hancock, Tilden & Wadsworth, beaches, parks and more, spread out over western Long Island, Staten Island and Sandy Hook peninsula in New Jersey. The Sandy Hook unit has miles of beautiful beaches (below with NYC skyline view) and paved bike trails to enjoy.

Cape Cod National Seashore

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The park extends from the fist to the elbow, from around proud Provincetown to historic Chatham Harbor, and there’s much to see and do. For me, the quintessential experience is to find an isolated stretch of beach and walk until the birds far outnumber the people. I saw dozens of grey seals swimming right near the shore or lying on the rocks just off the beach. It’s difficult to get to any beach without passing a lighthouse, but if you want to climb one, your best shot is Highland Light (above), the first one commissioned on the Cape by one George Washington.

There are about a dozen named trails too, and I’d recommend hiking near Fort Hill, where you can see the Penniman House, get a great view of the marsh, and spot many different birds. With the aid of a birdsong identifier, I counted 18 different species in one day, including the rare Indigo Bunting and an uncommon Willow Flycatcher.

If you have a bike, consider taking the Cape Cod Rail Trail, which is a high-quality dedicated bike trail through about 1/3 of the cape, and there are also other decent bike lanes and bike trails. My first bike trip here a few decades ago, extended the length of Cape Cod, plus the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, returning by ferry from Provincetown to Boston. When I last visited the lighthouse above, it stood where I stood to take the photo above, because the highland cliffs are eroding at several feet per year, forcing them to move the lighthouse in the intervening decades.

Visiting in shoulder season, rather than July-August, helps avoid miserable traffic and exorbitant hotel rates. There are also lots of good seafood shacks, still one or two cheaper motels, some campgrounds, and lots of nature. Wellfleet is well known for oysters, and the fried clams here are the best I’ve had. I’m still on a quest to find the best lobster roll, and I suspect it will be lifelong. Though speaking of seafood, I would be careful swimming around here, as great white sharks prowl along the shores.

North Atlantic National Heritage Areas

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There are ten heritage areas in New York and New England, and all of them protect places frequently described as beautiful, historic and quaint. Growing up in the region, I am biased, but I highly recommend visiting all of them.

  • Blackstone River Valley NHC, explore the mill towns that defined the Industrial Revolution
  • Champlain Valley NHP, hike in the canyons of the Adirondacks on this route to Canada
  • Downeast Maine NHA, catch the first rays of sunrise on the scenic coast of Maine, have tea in Campobello, and learn about the Acadians near St Croix IHS
  • Erie Canalway NHC, take five looking for a mule named Sal, and sing a few bars
  • Essex NHA, wander the old streets of Salem past Hawthorne’s house of the seven gables and go see the 17th century Saugus Ironworks
  • Freedom’s Way NHA, see where the Minute Men fired the shot heard round the world and the small towns where they lived and dreamt revolutionary ideas
  • Hudson River Valley NHA, FDR, Van Buren, Vanderbilt, Saratoga, St Paul’s, Thomas Cole…
  • Last Green Valley NHC, step back into an authentic 19th century village (below)
  • Niagara Falls NHA, besides the obvious, visit the Old Fort and learn some history
  • Upper Housatonic NHA, visit Edith Wharton’s historic Mount in the Berkshires

Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area

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The Housatonic River runs down the western edge of Massachusetts through Connecticut, and the heritage area is shared by both states. Connecticut gets the best natural areas—the bogs, fern filled cobbles (hills) and pine forests—and Massachusetts gets the best historic places. My childhood schooling is filled with stories from the Berkshires, so I wanted to revisit The Mount (above) in Lenox Massachusetts most of all. And how much improved it is! But that’s getting far ahead of the story.

The Mohicans lived here first, and before the Revolution, English settlers swapped land with them. Some of the first to learn to speak the native language were missionaries, and Rev John Sergeant’s house in Stockbridge can be visited during the summer. After Independence, the Shakers settled in Pittsfield, and their living history museum is recommended too. The old mill of the company that makes the paper for US currency is in Dalton. Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne lived and wrote here around 1850, and Melville’s Pittsfield home can be visited too. W.E.B. Du Bois was born and raised in Great Barrington, and there’s a walking tour in addition to his homesite, not far from Simon’s Rock, which has an excellent program dedicated to Du Bois.

Edith Wharton built the Mount in 1902 and wrote many of her most famous books there. Her maiden name was Jones—as in the phrase “keeping up with the Joneses”—and her husband was related to the business school. She had already rebuilt Lands End on the Cliff Walk in Newport RI, making Interior Design a profession when she co-wrote a book about it. Gilded Age women were not supposed to be progressive writers, but Edith Wharton was, becoming the first woman to win a Pulitzer for Fiction in 1921 with The Age of Innocence.

When I visited the Mount as a child, the girls’ equestrian school there had just closed, and the once magnificent home was falling apart. I remember adults being much concerned with marble fireplaces collapsing, whether a Shakespeare company might help save it, or whether it would be demolished for condos. I liked the formal garden but little remained of the famous author who lived there. But thanks to some devoted preservationists, including a collection saved by a book dealer in London, the home and library have been gloriously restored. Highly recommended.

The Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor

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Old Sturbridge Village above in Massachusetts is emblematic of the Valley, which is delightfully wooded, rural and historic with mill villages, museums and natural preserves. In my youth I ran cross country through the area at small traditional New England schools, and I took many field trips to the living history museum pictured. There are old farmhouses, taverns, gardens, barns, gristmills, cider mills, meetinghouses, galleries, shops, pottery, bakeries, crafts and more, all through the valley, dozens of historic sites too. Patriots Clara Barton and Nathan Hale—‘I regret I have but one life to give to my country’—came from this valley. One uncommon benefit of preserving traditions here are the dark skies at night, perfect for star gazing. Much has been lost of the old ways in our sprawling busy modern developments, but not here.

Fire Island National Seashore

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The 32 mile narrow island park is interspersed with small communities of folks who have taken responsibility for protecting their long and fragile wilderness. Around Watch Hill there’s a salt marsh, home to many birds. Near Sailors Haven, there’s a Sunken Forest of centuries old Holly trees below protected by a double row of dunes. There are beaches, boardwalks, small boat harbors and historic homes within the park too. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy temporarily breached the Fire Island Wilderness, cutting a path from the Atlantic above through the dunes to Long Island Sound. You can cross the Smith Point bridge—while its replacement is being built—at the eastern end of the park and hike in from the Wilderness Visitor Center.

If you’re driving in from NYC, navigation software might direct you across the Robert Moses Causeway to the west end where you can hike to the lighthouse. But be aware that park ‘roads’ are limited to authorized vehicles, and visitors typically arrive via passenger ferry from places like Sayville. After just such a detour, I barely caught the Sunday ferry to Sailors Haven, my last chance to see the Sunken Forest below for a week during the limited fall schedule. Besides a stand in Gateway NRA in Sandy Hook NJ, this is the only grove of its kind in the world, and there’s a lovely boardwalk nature trail to enjoy the trees, birds and scenery.

Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor

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Just up the hill here past the Port Byron dry-dock/ lock is an old tavern. Maybe that’s why so many locals contracted to build the original canal: everyone knew life would be better with a canal. Once there was a passenger & freight shipping route between New York City and the Great Lakes, cities grew all along the canal. Turns out there have been several versions of the canal, from the original crowd-sourced 4’ deep, the bigger one (above) and the current large barge canal that a local brewery and many other folk still use now.

The canal connects the scenic and historic Hudson Valley to Lake Erie, below the Niagara Escarpment, or ‘from Albany to Buffalo’. I’ve driven the route many times in my electric car and visited the park sites in the heritage area, like Fort Stanwix, Saratoga, Women’s Rights and more, but I ignored the canal. Not because I don’t like it or discount its importance, but because I thought I might do the Great Loop someday and travel the length by boat. Anyway, I finally stopped along the way to chat with the seasonal staff and take a photo. It’s a wonderful 500 mile stretch of Americana. If you didn’t learn the song in Kindergarten, listen to Bruce Springsteen sing it on YouTube.

I’ve got a mule and her name is Sal
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
She’s a good old worker and a good old pal
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal

We haul’d some barges in our day
Filled with lumber, coal, and hay
We know every inch of the way
From Albany to Buffalo

Low bridge, everybody down
Low bridge, yeah we’re coming to a town
And you’ll always know your neighbor
And you’ll always know your pal
If ya ever navigated on the Erie Canal

Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area

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The view above is from the Ramparts at Fort Warren on Georges Island, one of the 34 beautiful & fascinating islands. The fort didn’t come into play in the Civil War, except as a prison for Confederate soldiers. When I was here in my youth, I heard the spooky story of the Lady in Black, who haunts the cliffs and corridors. With the help of local sympathizers, she snuck into the fort, whistled a tune that her husband knew, found him but accidentally shot him during the escape. She was tried and executed for treason, in a dress she had sewn herself from black curtains in the commander’s office. Her shadowy ghost has been seen by many since the Civil War.

Alas for fans of the supernatural, the story is nonsense. Despite the obviously dramatic appeal, there are no contemporary records of the women herself, the escape attempt, the death of her husband, the arrest, the investigation, the trial or what would have been the first official hanging of a woman for treason during the Civil War. The story began in the 1950s or 60s to encourage folks to visit the old fort in summer. But apparently we prefer lies to the truth. And nothing cools you off on a hot day like sitting in a dark 65° man-made cave listening to a ghost story.

The islands have been also been used as summer fishing grounds by Native Americans, by pirates, smugglers, for quarantine, as schools or asylums, and as way-stations on the Underground Railroad. Outward Bound holds one of its programs on Thompson Island, which Nathaniel Hawthorne once described as “a little world by itself”. The School for Field Studies once hosted me (photo) and a few other whale watchers for a month on a boat, including a day writing up our research in the church on Peddocks Island. A few of the islands remained relatively unchanged since the glaciers receded leaving steeply eroded drumlin cliffs and long low sand-spits. But Spectacle Island had to be completely reclaimed from “trash island” to beautiful natural recreation area.

The Boston Harbor of Tea Party fame is in the inner harbor in the distance above. The Tea Party Ships & Museum on Griffin’s Wharf is not part of the park service, but it’s a fun hands-on spot to learn about ‘no taxation without representation’. The Harbor Island ferries mostly leave from Long Wharf near Faneuil Hall, which is on the Freedom Trail. The islands make a nice excursion if you’re visiting Boston during their open season from mid May to mid October. Since I had already traveled to the islands many times by sailboat, I simply rode the park-partner ferry out for a few hours to take some photos and reminisce. But as I write this today, I can’t help but think about tomorrow’s election. We owe it both to those who fought to create and protect our country and to our future, to hold tightly to our democracy, and vote.

New England National Scenic Trail

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Mt Tom in Holyoke Massachusetts is a high point of the trail along the Connecticut River (although there are mountains over ten times higher in Colorado). The trail runs along a high ridge with several lookout towers to watch hawks or catch a glimpse of the river over the trees. The Eyrie House Ruins above are of a view hotel that burned down 123 years ago. As usual, I had forgotten about my childhood visit here, until I reached the ruins and climbed a rusty old tower to see the view below.

The trail is 235 miles from Long Island Sound to the New Hampshire border, through native lands, over rugged mountains, through annually brilliant foliage, past reservoirs, waterfalls and quaint New England villages. Last year, President Biden elevated the trail to a full national park unit, along with North Country and Ice Age National Scenic Trails. Hopefully, this step will encourage more people to hike and explore this lovely area of our country.