The Nature Conservancy in Vermont - Lower Poultney River Natural Area

The Poultney River.

Visitor Information

The Lower Poultney River Natural Area is best seen from the water. More information and directions to this natural area.

Get Involved

Would you like to get outside and help nature at the same time? Our stewardship staff holds volunteer work days here and around the state. Check out our volunteer page.

The Poultney River meanders 40 miles through several towns in west-central Vermont and New York, defining a portion of the border between these two states, before it drains into the southern extent of Lake Champlain. The scenery marked by cliffs and wetlands along the river is dramatic and for nearly 20 miles the natural shoreline of the Poultney is rarely interrupted by development.

Size
251 acres in Vermont and 2,000 acres in New York

What to see: plants
A broad diversity of natural communities occupies the Lower Poultney watershed. There are extensive riverine wetlands, calcareous cliffs, calcareous talus slopes, and floodplain, oak-hickory, rich northern hardwood and birch-beech-maple forests.

What to see: animals
The area is known for its abundant wildlife. The river corridor is utilized by river otters, coyotes, snowshoe hares, fishers and bobcats. Leopard frogs, salamanders, black snakes, northern watersnakes and painted turtles live in or near the river. Pike and walleye spawn in the river and rare fish like the blackchin shiner, bridle shiners, channel darters, and eastern sand darters live in the Poultney. Many birds thrive in the area too, including American bitterns, pied-billed grebes, least bitterns, common moorhens, peregrine falcons, red-tailed hawks, great blue herons, warblers, thrushes, swallows, great horned owls and kingfishers.

But the Poultney is best known for its least charismatic inhabitants: 12 different species of freshwater mussels with fanciful names like pink heelsplitter, fragile papershell, fluted shell, giant floater, eastern lampmussel and pocketbook. Freshwater mussels are the most imperiled class of species in the world. Of the 300 native freshwater mussels in the United States, an estimated 10 percent are extinct, and another 50 percent are endangered, threatened or declining. While none of the Poultney mussels are globally rare, the river is unusual in New England as it has retained the most diverse population of mussels.

Why the Conservancy selected this site
The cluster of significant terrestrial and aquatic sites in this largely undeveloped region of the Southern Lake Champlain Valley is a hotspot of biodiversity. New York State and the Adirondack Park Agency have recognized the ecological diversity of the Poultney River area, and the State of Vermont named the river an Outstanding Resource Water in 1992. The Conservancy included the Poultney River as part of its Freshwater Initiative Program, which has targeted 50 waterways in North and South America for intensive conservation efforts.

What the Conservancy is doing
This preserve is part of the Southern Lake Champlain Valley (SLCV) landscape. The Conservancy has protected more than 8,500 acres in the SLCV area in Vermont and New York. From their office in West Haven, SLCV staff manage the preserve lands and provide opportunities for the community to participate in conservation-related activities.

Visitor information
A canoe put-in can be found at Coggman Creek culvert on East Bay Road.

Hunters use this preserve during the month of May and from October 1 to December 31. If you visit during hunting season, please wear bright clothing. Written permission is required to hunt at the Lower Poultney River Preserve.

Please read our preserve visitation guidelines.

Directions
From Route 22A in Fair Haven, drive 2.5 miles north of Route 4 (exit 2) and turn west onto Main Road in West Haven. Stay on Main Road for 3.3 miles and then turn left on Book Road. Travel 2.1 miles on Book Road to the Poultney River and turn right onto the dirt road just before the bridge. Travel on the dirt road for 1.1 miles until you arrive at Coggman Creek culvert, where the creek empties into the Poultney River. This is the canoe put-in. Limited roadside parking is available.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Mary Droege/The Nature Conservancy (The Poultney River).