Manhattan’s Hallett Nature Sanctuary!

Hallett Nature Sanctuary

Welcome to Manhattan’s Hallett Nature Sanctuary! The Hallett Nature Sanctuary is located in the southeastern section of world famous Central Park near Central Park South and 5th Avenue. The sanctuary is an estimated 4 acre rocky upland woodland slope that forms the northern boundry of the 59th street pond. Hallett Nature Sanctuary has the artificially created 59th street pond to the south and east.

59th Street Pond

A tall fence surrounds the forest to the north and west. The western side features a man-made waterfall which falls over Manhattan schist.

Waterfall at Hallett Nature Sanctuary

The Hallett Nature Sanctuary is the smallest of Central Park’s three woodlands. Formerly known as the Promontory, it was renamed the Hallett Nature Sanctuary in 1986 after George Hervey Hallett, Jr. Hallett was a well known NYC civic leader and nature lover. The land which became the Hallett Nature Sanctuary was declared a bird sanctuary and formally closed to the general public in 1934.

The preserve served as a living experiment to see how 4 acres of woodland would ecologically function in the United State’s most populated city. The results of the experiment were less than encouraging. All four layers of the forest (the canopy, sub-canopy, shrub and herbaceous layers) were found to be under onslaught from invasive plants including:

Wisteria has been shown to strangle and leave deep indentations on plants it grasps as shown in the picture listed below.

Effects of Invasive Wisteria on shrub after removal

Trail

Hallett Nature Sanctuary Trail

On occasion, the Central Park Conservancy holds tours of the 59th Street pond and the Hallett Nature Sanctuary. This is the only way the general public may access the sanctuary for the entrance (located near Wollman’s Rink in the extreme northern section of the preserve) is chain locked.

Chained locked entrance to Hallett Nature Sanctuary

A short log lined woodchip trail, which was created circa 2003 by local volunteers encircles the sanctuary on its western border. The land is too rocky and steep for a trail to exist on the eastern side. The woodchip trail helps water to absorb more easier into the ground preventing erosion on the steep sections of the sanctuary. In the growing season (spring & summer) as you walk the trail and listen to the tour guide it is hard to believe that you are feet away from Central Park South.

Hallett Nature Sanctuary Forest

The highlight of the tour is discovering the source of the waterfall located on the western border that empties into the pond. Visitors walking by may think the waterfall is generated by a natural spring. The real source is man-made; a hose that turns the waterfall on and off.

Flora

Flora in the Hallett Nature Sanctuary includes the below among others:

Fauna

Many species of birds find a home in Hallett Nature Sanctuary including:

Notable mammals include:

There have been at least two visits by Coyotes in the past five years. Click here for a video of a coyote crossing ice on the pond in 2010. Other species include: