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Places We Protect

Mount Holly Marsh Preserve

Mount Holly Marsh Preserve

Mountain Laurel on rocks.
Mount Holly Marsh - mountain laurel Encircled Mountain Laurel by Red Blueberry,Fall color at The Nature Conservancy's Bear Rocks Preserve in West Virginia. High above Canaan Valley, in Dolly Sods, where a flat, windswept expanse of subalpine heath barrens opens up to the sky. Stunted red spruce, ancient bogs and forlorn boulders define this haunting landscape, where creatures typically found in more northern environs roam oblivious to their geologic isolation. The Nature Conservancy’s 477-acre Bear Rocks Preserve is a cornerstone of this wonderfully diverse and complex ecosystem, which lies on a ridge crest that forms part of the Eastern Continental Divide. © Kent Mason

This mini-wilderness serves both as a sanctuary and living laboratory for many communities.

Viewing

Overview

Description

Protected by the Nature Conservancy in 1975, Mount Holly's rugged outcrops of bedrock rise up to 621 feet and are home to a mixed deciduous forest of chestnut oak, black oak and red oak. On the west side of the preserve, a large wetland complex includes an open red maple swamp and a pond that is slowly transforming into a marsh. Mount Holly Sanctuary has been used for several long-term monitoring projects such as deer population studies, invasive plant research, geological surveys and bird censuses. 

Please Note: Mount Holly Sanctuary is open during hunting season to archery only, and remains open to the public year-round. Written permission is required to hunt on Conservancy lands. To learn about our hunting program or to obtain permission to hunt, please visit our New York hunting information page.

Access

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Hours

Open dawn to dusk, year round

Highlights

Parking Spaces: 2; Facilities: None

Size

209 acres

Resources

Explore our work in this region

Guidelines

To help ensure that this special place can be enjoyed for future generations, please leave no trace and carry out what you carry in. Camping, littering, hunting, fires, or removal or destruction of plants or animals are prohibited. See our full preserve visitation guidelines for more information.

Hardwood forests are dominated by oak and black birch. In the wetlands, look for speckled alder, sweet pepperbush and swamp azalea.

Listen for the loud cry of the pileated woodpecker in the open sugar maple stand, and watch for ruffed grouse and broad-winged hawks.

This 209-acre preserve is located in Bedford and Lewisboro in Westchester County, New York.

Trail Map
Trail Map

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Three color-coded trails provide access to nearly the entire preserve. The red and blue trails criss-cross each other several times and take hikers on a meandering walk through mixed deciduous forest and stone outcroppings. The yellow trail brings visitors into an outer loop through wetlands and thickets. Horses are permitted along designated trail sections throughout the preserve.

The Red and Blue trails start at the main trailhead on Mount Holly Road and can be combined to make a 2.1-mile loop trail that travels down and back up a forested hillside. Both trails connect with the Yellow Trail near the center of the preserve, which passes through a beautiful wetland area. Please note that all mileages listed are one-way distances. Here’s what to expect when you hit the trails.

Red Trail

The Red Trail is an easy-to-moderate hike and is marked with red paint blazes. The trail is 1 mile long and can be accessed via the main trailhead on Mount Holly Road. It is a natural soil surface trail that starts at the top of a fully forested hill. The trail is fully forested. Expect 200 feet of elevation change and a typical trail width of 60 inches. Expect small natural stream crossings and some obstructions, such as rocks, roots and fallen trees.

Blue Trail

The Blue Trail is an easy-to-moderate hike and is marked with blue paint blazes. The trail is 1.1 miles long and can be accessed via the main trailhead on Mount Holly Road. It is a natural soil surface trail that starts at the top of a hill. The trail is fully forested. Expect 200 feet of elevation change and a typical trail width of 60 inches. Expect small natural stream crossings and some obstructions, such as rocks, roots and fallen trees.

Yellow Trail

The Yellow Trail is an easy-to-moderate hike and is marked with yellow paint blazes. The trail is 0.75 miles long and can be accessed via the Blue Trail or the Red Trail near the center of the preserve. The Yellow Trail is a natural soil surface trail that dips down into a beautiful wetland area. Expect 100 feet of elevation change and a typical trail width of 60 inches. There are small natural stream crossings and some obstructions, such as rocks, roots and fallen trees. Expect wet, muddy conditions through winter and spring and on rainy days.