Saw Mill Creek Marsh

West Shore Exwy. to Kill Van Kull from River Rd. to South Ave.

Saw Mill Creek Marsh contains the largest expanse of remaining salt marsh along Staten Island's west shore. The 175-acre marshlands on the western side of Staten Island were created by the receding of the Wisconsin Glacier 15,000 years ago and the slow accumulation of sediment and organic soil. Saw Mill Creek Marsh was named after the brackish creek that carves through the park and empties into the Arthur Kill River behind Prall's Island.

Today Saw Mill Creek is also home to the city's first wetland mitigation bank, created by the New York City Economic Development Corporation. A large portion of the marsh was restored, creating mitigation credits that developers buy in order to compensate for unavoidable wetland impacts at other projects around the city.

Saw Mill Creek Marsh is large enough to sustain breeding populations of sharp-tailed (Ammodramus caudacutus), seaside (Ammodramus maritimus), and swamp sparrows (Melospiza georgiana), wintering northern harriers (Circus cyaneus), and short-eared owls (Asio flammeus). The park is a favorite spot for many other birds such as egrets, herons, and birds of prey including falcons and turkey vultures (Cathartes aura). Mammals that inhabit Saw Mill Creek Marsh include white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus), muskrat (Ondatra zibethica), Eastern cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus), and raccoons (Procyon lotor).

Fragments of young forest border the marsh and contain New York State listed rare plants, including several oak hybrids and a large clone of persimmon (Diospyros virginiana). The upland patch of maritime oak woods in this park is especially uncommon because most of these patches were destroyed as salt marshes were filled.