The Lay of the Land


The Sanctuary land lopes gently down to the Battenkill (Dionondehowa before the Dutch arrived) and runs along the river's bank for about a third of a mile.

Within the Sanctuary are wetlands, two creeks, two backwater areas at the river, meadows, hayfields, young woods, deep woods, and open rocky outcrops of shale.

Though barely exceeding 800ft above sea level at its greatest elevation it does offer breath-giving views, east to the Taconic range in Vermont.

The low ridge at the Sanctuary's western perimeter sheds rain into two watersheds: the Battenkill and the Hoosick, both of which eventually find their ways to the Hudson River and Atlantic Ocean.

There remains on the land a strong sense of the people who lived here before it was stripped and refashioned by the 18th-century wave of European settlers. More ancient yet, a 5000 year-old spear point turned up in the spring tilling of the north garden in 1993.

The land still retains its magic, its sprites and other spirits, offering glimpses for those who dare to see. And the land offers respite, the chance to be quiet, to feel, to remember, to mend our fragmented lives, coaxing us to
"Come to our Senses!”

The Sanctuary is accessible to the public through programs and appointments.  Phone (518) 854-7764.