Greenbrook Sanctuary
Greenbrook pages last updated on
January 03, 2009.
A special-use nature preserve maintained by the Palisades Nature Association (PNA)
On this page:
What is Greenbrook?
Directions to Greenbrook
Habitats & Flora
Fauna
PNA Membership & Sanctuary RulesOther pages about Greenbrook:
Greenbrook Albums Wildlife Sightings Field Notes Current issue of Palisades Nature Notes, PNA's quarterly newsletter* (.pdf file) *Please note: Unless otherwise indicated, programs listed in the Almanac pages of the newsletter are open to PNA members only.
Map of Greenbrook (.pdf file)
See also our cliff*notes article about Greenbrook: "Demystifying Greenbrook"
"Greenbrook Sanctuary is 165 acres of woodland on top of New Jersey's magnificent Palisades. 4.7 miles north of the George Washington Bridge, off U.S. Route 9W, the sanctuary is an oasis of solitude and natural beauty, minutes away from one of the noisiest, most densely populated areas in the world. In the wildest, most secluded acres, trees rise 100 to 130 feet and are often over 200 years old. Awed hikers feel hundreds of miles and years away from the cities in such primeval forests..."
Phone: 201 784-0484 or 201 768-1360
Email: greenbrook "at" njpalisades.orgPostal address: Palisades Nature Association, P.O. Box 155, Alpine, NJ 07620-0155
Nancy Slowik, Naturalist / Director
Sandra Bonardi, Associate Naturalist
Kenneth Habermann, Assistant Naturalist
Northbound Directions
From Routes 4, 46, I-80, I-95: Take the exit for Fort Lee/Palisades Interstate Parkway (Exit 72 from I-95, after the last toll on the New Jersey Turnpike). Turn left at the light at the top of the ramp. Go through 3 lights in succession, then bear right onto the Palisades Interstate Parkway northbound.
Take the Palisades Interstate Parkway north to Exit 1. At the bottom of the exit ramp make a right. At the first traffic light make a right onto Route 9W north. At the 4th traffic light (East Clinton Ave.), the road narrows from 4 lanes to 2. The entrance to Greenbrook is 0.8 miles north of East Clinton Ave. on the right side.
From New York City: Take the upper level of the George Washington Bridge to the first exit, the Palisades Interstate Parkway northbound. Follow directions from Exit 1 off the Palisades Interstate Parkway (above).
Southbound Directions
From New York State Thruway (I-87/287): take Exit 13S for the Southbound PIP. Take Exit 2 off the PIP. Make a left onto Route 9W – headed south. You will go through 2 traffic lights and one blinking light. After the sign for Tamcrest Estates (formerly Montammy Golf Club), look for a small Greenbrook sign. The entrance is on left side of the road, 0.5 miles south of Tamcrest Estates.
A key, which is provided with PNA membership, is required for entrance to the Sanctuary on days when Greenbrook is not open for programs for the general public.
The sanctuary is largely an oak forest, especially along the cliff edge where red oaks, hickory, and black birch dominate. In cooler, moister, more fertile coves, sugar maple, beech, dogwood, and tulip trees are common. Swampy, poorly drained areas are covered with red maple, sweet gum, elm, tupelo, hornbeam, pin oak, ash, and willow. Common shrubs are maple-leaf viburnum, witch hazel, laurel, blueberry, wild azalea, poison ivy, grape, and, in wet areas, spicebush.
Starting in early spring, before the trees produce their leaves, the sanctuary experiences a parade of colorful wildflowers springing up from the forest floor, and the fiddleheads of twenty species of native ferns uncoiling from the dead leaves. This paralleled in late summer and fall by an amazing variety of mushrooms, shelf fungi, and slime molds.
A five-acre pond with small adjoining bog increase the great diversity of this sanctuary. The 250-foot Greenbrook Falls is one of three major streams which drain the area and tumble down the ancient diabase cliffs into the Hudson River. Views of these waterfalls, the Palisades and Highlands to the north, and the densely populated cities across the Hudson, are possible from several promontories which look down 350 feet into the river.
Over 250 species of birds have been identified in the sanctuary. During the migratory seasons it is not unusual to observe eighty species in one day, including twenty varieties of colorful warblers and, in the fall, thousands of hawks (and an occasional eagle) soaring along the cliffs. Among the more exciting nesting birds are great horned owl, broad-winged hawk, pileated woodpecker, ruffed grouse, wood duck, scarlet tanager, rose-breasted grosbeak, worm-eating warbler, and indigo bunting.
Common mammals include the nocturnal raccoon, red fox, and striped skunk, both red and gray squirrels, chipmunk, muskrat, cotton-tail rabbit, and the secretive white-footed mouse, short-tailed shrew, and common mole. Deer, opossums, weasels, flying squirrels, and red bats are also occasionally seen.
Each March, the pond, bog, and swamps fill with the egg masses of wood frogs and spotted salamanders. Afterwards, the voices of the spring peeper, American toad, pickerel frog, and bull frog fill the spring evenings with mating songs. The dominant reptiles are eastern garter and northern water snakes, painted, box, and snapping turtles. Rarely, copperhead snakes, five-lined skinks, milk and black snakes, and musk turtles are seen.
PNA is a non-profit organization of conservation-minded people, founded in 1946 to preserve the natural character of the Palisades cliffs and to develop a wild sanctuary in the Greenbrook area. Today it administers Greenbrook Sanctuary to provide a place within the metropolitan area where interested persons can study nature and relax in a peaceful undisturbed setting. To foster an appreciation of the unique Palisades environment and history, and to spread its conservation message to all ages, the Association sponsors weekly nature, geology, and ecology field trips in Greenbrook Sanctuary, illustrated lectures, and special group programs (by appointment) - all conducted by a professional naturalist. In addition, careful censuses of the flora and fauna are made from year to year to serve as scientific records of the sanctuary's changing diversity and species composition.
Membership
The Palisades Nature Association is financed exclusively by membership dues and contributions. For membership information, contact the P.N.A. office at PO Box 155, Alpine, NJ 07620-0155
201.768-1360
The office is located on the second floor of the Park Headquarters building.PNA Membership Application (.pdf file).
Privileges of Membership:Share in the conservation and education goals of the Association.
Use of the Sanctuary daily from dawn to dusk for nature study, hiking, photography, or just relaxation.
Weekend nature programs and occasional weekday morning and evening walks, conducted by a professional naturalist.
Periodic field trips to nearby areas of natural interest.
A quarterly member's bulletin containing program schedule, news items, field-trip results, nature articles, and reports of wildlife in the sanctuary.
Booklets about the sanctuary's flora, fauna, ecology, history, and trails are available in the information center.
A full-time naturalist is on duty at the sanctuary to conduct programs, answer questions, and report wildlife sightings.
Membership card, automobile decal, and key to the sanctuary.
Annual fall and spring meetings.
Facilities include 6.5 miles of marked trails, information center and museum, rest rooms (at the pond's dam and the museum building), picnic area.
Rules and Responsibilities
To insure the safety of the members of the Palisades Nature Association and the preservation of the wildlife and natural character of Greenbrook Sanctuary, the following regulations (in addition to those of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission) have been authorized:
The Sanctuary is open to members dawn to dusk.
Automobile decal should be displayed and current membership card carried.
For their protection, members are to register at the bulletin board in the parking area.
Keys to the Sanctuary are not to be loaned.
Members should lock the gate upon entering and leaving.
NO pets are allowed in the Sanctuary.
NO bikes are allowed on the trails in the Sanctuary. They must be left in the parking area.
Snowshoes are permitted on trails, NO cross-country skis.
To prevent fires and litter, smoking is allowed only in the parking area and eating is allowed only in the picnic area.
Beach blankets and chairs are not permitted.
As guests in a sanctuary for wildlife, members must remain on marked trails only and must not remove or disturb plants or animals.
Members' guests are welcome, but membership is urged if visits are repeated.
Family members under 17 years of age must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
ALL groups—school children, adults, or otherwise—must arrange for their trip to the Sanctuary through the Alpine office.