Local Guides World
Reviews — 8
walk about 30 minutes
Really well kept trails. On busy weekends the trash cans fill up fast so I say take your trash with you please. Mostly flat and a really wild place for Nyc. Don’t forget the bug spray.
Nice easy hike and still technically in NYC. Did not go all the way to touch the Gray Mare as I did not want to tread through the marsh (Rained the day before). Would recommend!
Really does look like a horse from the side. Though, since Native Americans didn't originally nave horses, I wonder what the actual name was. Interesting history, but looks like someone threw some blue paint on one side.
It's beautiful! Still only lightly and conservatively touched by man. There are many natural rock formations for geologists. On my last visit I saw a huge bolder with pure marble running through it. Quartz, rose quartz and other natural minerals in abundance. There are foot bridges for those tough terrain areas. The views are amazing especially in Autumn! Just an awesome area my family and I love!
I have been to so many nice places in NYC that I never knew existed mostly because after HS I only come to NYC to visit my mother and family but now I have more time because I Retired early so I can take advantage and see everything I was missing.
The ROCK of Hunter island great sites a view of Glen island from a far in New Rochelle. 🔵
To visit you should know you set your gps to orchard beach. Once at orchard take the kazimiroff trail it has two entry points from the board walk & from a sign that says "hunter island" off the farend of the parking lot. Then use google maps to find the Mare. Please note the actual trail is not on google you will have to estimate your proximity. Once you arrive, You can't actually walk out to her. she's located on the lagoon area of the marsh land. I didn't want to try my luck walking too close for sink hole fears. *The earth was very shaky when we tried walking over.
With that said, this is a fun little quest to give yourself and the nature trail has several different terrains. It's a fun hike. When you visit the area you instantly feel like you're in upstate ny even though you are only 10 min drive from the 6 train station 🤣
Why visit the grey mare?
*She is a part of #nativeamerican history located right here in the #bronx. I even found her in an old map dating to the revolutionary era.
Here's some info on her from the Historic Pelham blog : "The Native Americans reportedly believed that their God or guardian intentionally placed the Grey Mare at that spot. In 1881, Westchester historian Robert Bolton, Jr. wrote about the Grey Mare, saying:
“Nearly opposite the Knoll on a point of Hunter’s Island is located a mossy rock, or boulder stone, called the “Grey Mare.” To this piece of rude natural sculpture, the Indians invariably paid just respect, believing it to have been placed there by the direct interposition of their God or guardian Manito, for their especial benefit or favor. These rolled stones he called Shingaba-wossins—or in general phrase Muz-in-in-a-wun, or images.” Id. at pp. 37-38.
According to the City of New York Parks & Recreation Department, “[t]he entrance to the Kazimiroff Nature Trail and the Northwestern Shore of Hunter Island, with the Gray Mare and Mishow boulders, are believed to have been two very important Siwanoy ritual sites.” See City of New York Parks & Recreation Department, “Siwanoy Trail Pelham Bay Park” Historic Marker (Dec. 2001)."
Here is what the friends of Pelham bay park have on her on their website:
"Grey Mare
A glacial erratic resembling a horse, the Gray Mare sits on marshy land at the northwest point of Hunter Island. It can be seen from across The Lagoon near the Park’s border with Westchester. That land was once home to the estate of Elbert Roosevelt. Historian Bill Twomey writes about Mr. Roosevelt and a local Native American looking across to the Gray Mare, together, sometime in 1808 when the Native American came back to visit the place where he had grown up. "
With that said, this is a fun little quest to give yourself and the nature trail has several different terrains. It's a fun hike. When you visit the area you instantly feel like you're in upstate ny even though you are only 10 min drive from the 6 train station 🤣
Why visit the grey mare?
*She is a part of #nativeamerican history located right here in the #bronx. I even found her in an old map dating to the revolutionary era.
Here's some info on her from the Historic Pelham blog : "The Native Americans reportedly believed that their God or guardian intentionally placed the Grey Mare at that spot. In 1881, Westchester historian Robert Bolton, Jr. wrote about the Grey Mare, saying:
“Nearly opposite the Knoll on a point of Hunter’s Island is located a mossy rock, or boulder stone, called the “Grey Mare.” To this piece of rude natural sculpture, the Indians invariably paid just respect, believing it to have been placed there by the direct interposition of their God or guardian Manito, for their especial benefit or favor. These rolled stones he called Shingaba-wossins—or in general phrase Muz-in-in-a-wun, or images.” Id. at pp. 37-38.
According to the City of New York Parks & Recreation Department, “[t]he entrance to the Kazimiroff Nature Trail and the Northwestern Shore of Hunter Island, with the Gray Mare and Mishow boulders, are believed to have been two very important Siwanoy ritual sites.” See City of New York Parks & Recreation Department, “Siwanoy Trail Pelham Bay Park” Historic Marker (Dec. 2001)."
Here is what the friends of Pelham bay park have on her on their website:
"Grey Mare
A glacial erratic resembling a horse, the Gray Mare sits on marshy land at the northwest point of Hunter Island. It can be seen from across The Lagoon near the Park’s border with Westchester. That land was once home to the estate of Elbert Roosevelt. Historian Bill Twomey writes about Mr. Roosevelt and a local Native American looking across to the Gray Mare, together, sometime in 1808 when the Native American came back to visit the place where he had grown up. "