Nature

Article and Photos By Andrew Vitelli

It’s hard to hide 640 acres–roughly a square mile–in the woods of northern Westchester. But Westmoreland Sanctuary, located on the borders of North Castle, Bedford and Mount Kisco, is as close to a hidden gem as Westchester nature lovers can hope to find in their neck of the woods.

“It’s not well known,” Ann Paul, the director of the sanctuary, explains. “We don’t have a huge budget or bandwidth to promote a lot of our programming.”

Westmoreland, established as a not-for-profit nature center and wildlife preserve in 1957, isn’t completely undiscovered; there are approximately 30,000 visitors per year to the nature center or on the 7.5 miles of trails which wind around the property. But walking through Westmoreland’s woods gives the visitor a closeness to nature hard to find on some of the area’s more popular trails.

“You have a lot of wooded area, so you have extended, mature forests,” Ms. Paul, who grew up in the Bedford area, says. “We’re not well-groomed. It’s a lot more rugged than some of the other parks.”

At Westmoreland, you may not get the soaring views of the Hudson River or Bear Mountain Bridge that hikers a bit north experience. But the trails, surrounded by thick forest, offer a sense of wilderness that is hard to find elsewhere. Even a short trek into one of the sanctuary’s dozen or so trails feels like an escape from the world around.

“It gives you that wonderful feeling that you’re farther than you actually are from civilization,” explains Steve Ricker, the Director of Conservation and Wildlife Management. “We try to keep our trails away from the edges, too, so you do still get that deep forest wilderness feeling.”

Westmoreland Sanctuary was established in 1957, by Helen Frick, a millionaire philanthropist and the daughter of steel magnate Henry Clay Frick. Some of the property’s most interesting artifacts are much older; two graveyards on the site date as far back as the 1600s, while the building which now houses the nature center and museum is a reconstructed pre-revolution church.

“It’s one of the few buildings that were not burned during the burning of Bedford in 1776 during the Revolutionary War,” Ms. Paul notes.

Westmoreland features the picturesque Bechtel Lake (see above), just a short walk from the parking lot, as well as Lost Pond, which is deeper into the woods. A range of wildlife can be found in these woods, including a variety of birds (including wild turkeys), turtles, frogs, and snakes (this reporter survived two garter snake sightings during a brief walk along the Easy Loop trail). Even bobcats, coyotes and a bear have been spotted roaming the sanctuary. For solo or groups of hikers, the Westmoreland Sanctuary offers trails of varying lengths and difficulties, while the nature center gives hikers a starting point with clean bathrooms and trail maps. But Westmoreland Sanctuary is much more than a series of trails. The sanctuary hosts programming, events, and classes for all ages, part of their mission of connecting children, parents, and the citizenry at large with the world around them.

“In the society we’re in today, a lot of people don’t have this time to come outside and they don’t know what’s safe or not safe,” Stephen Sciame, the sanctuary’s director of education, says. “So if they feel too scared to come out here themselves, they’re not going to bring their kids.”

Westmoreland has an environmental education program that dates back 30 years, developed in conjunction with New York State standards. It’s staff, though small (there are three full-time workers and a part-time bookkeeper), consists of experts with deep backgrounds in their fields. Westmoreland sees around 10,000 students each year, offering summer camps and after-school programs and working with schools and scout groups to bring children to Westmoreland. The sanctuary also hosts birthday parties, and sometimes takes its show on the road to science fairs and community events.

In July, Westmoreland will host an interactive production of The Wizard of Oz, which will allow the entire audience to walk through the sanctuary’s own Yellow Brick Road and meet their favorite characters (auditions were taking place as this magazine went to press). Other programming and events planned for this summer include a Nature Immersion Camp, a Wilderness Survival Camp, and orienteering meets (for an up-to-date list of what’s going on, visit westmorelandsanctuary.org).

“The idea here for our mission is to get the kids outside,” says Ms. Paul. “For those kids who would not typically get outside and would not typically spend time in the outdoors and in the woods, we’re encouraging their interest in here.”

Westmoreland is looking to expand its adult education programs. Parents who bring their kids, Sciame notes, often know less than their children about the outdoors.

“Nature has a little bit of that fear factor nowadays,” Sciame, an Eagle Scout with a Master’s Degree in Education, acknowledges. He hopes to channel the interest generated among reality T.V. watchers by shows like Man vs. Wild and Naked and Afraid to get fans of these shows to the sanctuary to learn their own survival skills (visitors will not, he clarifies, be naked).

“We’ve been using the hype that’s been generated by society to create survival-based programs, learn a little bit about natural navigation, learn about what edible foods and medicinal foods are out there, and do a quick public program on that,” he says.

Westmoreland, a public charity, is always free to visitors (though donations are accepted). While it spans three towns, it’s not affiliated with any of them. There are 14 members on its Board of Directors, on which Ms. Paul served for 15 years before becoming director.

For the staff at Westmoreland, reaching as many people as possible and exposing them to all the sanctuary and the outdoors has to offer is the ultimate goal. Ricker, who has worked at Westmoreland for 20 years, even makes an annual trip to the Children’s Center of Bedford Hills Correctional Facility with the sanctuary’s animal ambassadors.

“I want people to come and be accepted for who they are, and I don’t know that everyplace you go around here that’s true,” Ms. Paul explains. “I want people to come and do what they want.”

Andrew Vitelli is the editor of Inside Armonk magazine and also an avid, occasional hiker.