A Walk through Marcy's Woods


Early one spring morning, we enter the private nature preserve of Marcy's Woods. To the right of us are steps leading up to a nature trail and a rustic cabin. Directly ahead is another nature trail, a sandy road that borders the sand ridge on our right, and wetlands on our left. We have a choice. Care to join us?

We take the lower trail and find ourselves in the Carolinian forest. A small stand of tall, majestic tulip trees reaches over a hundred feet or more above us. The surrounding forests are interspersed with beech, yellow bird, hemlock, spruce, cedar and towering basswood, along with the ever present stands of maple and oak. We pass fragrant shrubs of spicebush, sassafras and flowering dogwood, and the fascinating stands of bladdernut and witch hazel.

We cross a small wooden bridge and discover an old log cabin hidden in a valley sheltered by timber-canopied sand dunes. We think about the family that built this cabin and imagine the serenity they must have enjoyed in this magical paradise.
Many species of birds are migrating through the canopy on their way to breeding grounds in the boreal forests of the far north. The melodious songs of the many Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks, Brown Thrashers, and a solitary Wilson's Warbler create the sense that they enjoy this day as much as we do. Many colours flash at us from the bare branches like Christmas ornaments. We are thrilled by the orange of the Northern Oriole, the yellow of the Warblers, the vividness of the Blue Jays and, most spectacular, the Scarlet Tanagers.

As this is spring, the forest floor is carpeted with red and white trilliums. Accompanying them are hosts of spring beauty, Dutchman's breaches, hepaticas, false Solomon's seal, sweet white violet, jewel weed, gold thread and many others.

We come upon a small pond alive with a chorus of frogs. There's the sharp peep of the spring peeper, the quacking of the wood frog and the harmonious trill of the American toad.

A steep sand dune lies before us. We climb and, as we reach the top, we gaze down on the last sizable expanse of wild sandy beach remaining along Lake Erie.


We are thankful to both the late Dr. George Marcy and his wife, Elizabeth, who had a life-long love for this Eden.

Originally from a brochure donated by the Fort Erie Conservation Women's Auxiliary

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