Enhancing Urban Green Spaces
Harbor seals, red-clay bluffs, an 1828 lighthouse, and a paradise for birders. You’ll find all that more at Mount Loretto Unique Area, a nature preserve on Staten Island. A peaceful park tucked away in the big city, Mount Loretto is just under 200 acres; the area includes a peaceful shoreline with a panoramic view of New Jersey and Raritan Bay as well as biodiverse wetlands and grasslands.
It’s the perfect natural getaway for visitors near and far. Relax by the shore or spend the day biking, hiking, fishing, paddling, or watching wildlife. It’s a migratory stopping site for birds and butterflies. During migration season, you’ll likely see Eastern Meadowlarks and perhaps even a bald eagle!
As NYC Audubon puts it, “the park contains some of the finest remaining tracts of grassland habitat in the metropolitan region. Ecologically, it is a superb natural site with a wealth of botanical diversity and excellent birding in any season. The number of recorded goldenrod species and asters is impressive.”
The preserve boosts five ecosystems: marine/coastal, forest, grassland, tidal wetlands, and freshwater wetlands. The area is a haven for birds whose habitat is disappearing such as bobolinks, meadowlarks, and sparrows.
To create the preserve, New York State purchased 194 acres from the Archdiocese of New York, after Protector of Pine Oak Woods and the Trust for Public Land led a successful effort to conserve the preserve area. Funds from the Environmental Protection Fund helped create the preserve. Starting in the late 19th Century, the Archdiocese operated an orphanage and a farm on the property. Today, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) manages the property as a nature preserve.
In 2024, with funds from the EPF and NY Works, DEC completed a new accessible wetlands trail that provides a half-mile accessible trail. The trail incorporates a stone dust trail and elevated boardwalk that culminates in a new viewing area overlooking tidal wetlands and an inlet. This improved path provides additional access to the beach at Mount Loretto Unique Area and connects with other accessible features on the property. Other accessible features at preserve include a fishing trail and platform and a picnic pavilion and viewing platform on the bay.
Interested in an educational visit? DEC has got you covered. Contact them to set up an environmental education event.