Siedenburg Park Hiking Trails

This 23-acre park contains upland forests, seasonal ponds and streams, and a 3.5-acre lake, making it a great location for park users seeking varied terrain and for birdwatchers seeking wetland species. The park has also been used by scientists seeking relatively untouched habitat to study. Siedenburg Park was named in 2001 to honor firefighter Christopher John Siedenburg, a lifelong resident of the Greak Kills neighborhood, who died at the age of 25 following a serious burn injury sustained while responding to the Watts Street fire in SoHo on March 28th, 1994.

Blue Trail:  This trail follows the pond shore and provides opportunities to look at the buttonbush shrubs and many other wetland plants that thrive in the lake. At less than a quarter mile, this easy walk can be accessed at the park entrances along Greaves Avenue or Greaves Lane. The route brings park users by large glacial erratic boulders deposited by receding glaciers 22,000 years ago and follows along the pond edge.

Yellow Trail: Entering the park at the intersection of Corbin Ave and Redwood Ave, the Yellow Trail is less than ½-mile long. If you are visiting in the spring, pause to take in a vernal pool to your left as you head south into the heart of the park. A vernal pool is a temporary body of water that often appears in the spring (“vernal” means relating to spring) and dries up by mid to late summer. They are more than just puddles. Not only are vernal pools evidence of New York City's geologic history, but they are also valuable ecosystems that play an important role in the life cycles of some of our most vulnerable wildlife today. Learn more here: Exploring Vernal Pools in NYC Parks and How They Help Amphibians Thrive. The trail follows a short loop, passing by the pond’s shore and through a grove of sassafras trees before returning to the first section where you began your walk.

Interactive Map

Points of Interest

Vernal Pool

In spring, you will be able to hear this pool before you see it, as it provides habitat for spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer), wood frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus), and other amphibians. By late summer, the pond will have dried up. The surrounding woods contain nearly 20 species of trees – mostly oaks (Quercus), hickories (Carya) and maples (Acer). However, there are also a few individuals of the critically endangered American Chestnut tree (Castanea dentata).

View Vernal Pool on the map

Sassafras Grove

A nearby bench provides a place to sit and enjoy this stand of hundreds of tall and narrow sassafras trees (Sassafras albidum), with trunks that curve gently left and right as they reach skyward. On a still day, tilt your head to look up at the uniquely lobed leaves. On a windy day, the fluttering leaves and swaying trunks create an almost shimmering effect.

View Sassafras Grove on the map

Hiking in NYC Parks

Visit our Hiking in NYC Parks page to find more nature trails in parks across New York City.