Albany Pine Bush Preserve

This place is absolutely lovely and peaceful BUT we ended up leaving with a ton of ticks even after spraying ourselves with DEET. When we checked our dog before getting her into the car she had at least 4 ticks on her and that is that we barely stopped on the trail. When we got home we found another 3 and my husband found 2 on himself. We would love to go back but the thought of coming home with ticks is just not appealing.

Review for both the Pine Bush Preserve Trails and the Discovery Center /​Museum — both five stars and a mustn’t-miss worthwhile place to visit if you’re visiting from out of town, among the truly unique places in the area.
The preserve is a patchwork of lands that have been wrested back from the brink of irrevocable loss due to encroaching development, that constitute nevertheless one of the largest pine barrens in the world, and the largest tract of urban pine barren anywhere. In terms of surviving size and scope this is second in North America only to the New Jersey Pine Barrens, is the largest inland barren anywhere, and it’s fairly different from other pine barrens I’ve been to.
There are eight different trail heads — separated mostly, unfortunately, by busy roads because of the nature of the preserve — so the best place to start is probably at the Discovery Center, which does triple duty as a natural history museum, headquarters for the park and its preservation groups, and as a visitor’s center for the trail areas.
The trails range from short 20 minute hikes to all-​day treks, and they all have different characteristics and points of interest. There are over 80 endangered plant and animal species represented, and some truly rare ones, including the unique Karner Blue butterfly (discovered by none other than Nabokov!) which is the sort of mascot of the place. One of the rather fun things about the trails here is they’re open all day and all night every day of the year — except when closed off for the occasional prescribed burn or trail restoration — so you can snowshoe here in the winter or take a springtime wildflower stroll or a sweaty summer hike or do a hybrid leaf-​peeping expedition of the habitats in the autumn. (They have sponsored nighttime hikes, including one at Halloween.) It changes a lot, the colors can be quite striking due to the acidity and sandy soil, and the microclimates are amazing — some trails you’ll find a different micro-​forest around each bend and over every rise. There’s also some human history here and there of some note, such as the Truaux tavern site from 1792. Trails tend to be relatively gentle and wide, on soft sandy soils, although here and there short climbs get a little steep. It’s easy hiking for the most part.
The Discovery Center is a nearly perfect small but very modern museum at the address listed here (on New Karner between Central and Washington Extension, opposite Old State Rd.). Admission is free (already a couple of stars there) and the exhibits are both engaging and educational, and will appeal to both kids and adults. There are interactive videos where you can control the film of a controlled burn fire, overlay maps, make-​your-​own-​message interactive video stations, and some cool pressure-​sensitive tiles that will make animals noises where you have to try to locate the animal. There’s a model of a pine tree that shows the root system in life-​size, and a number of exhibits about particular species found here, as well as an extensive history of how the habitat was wrested back from development and the challenges it still faces.
There’s a very small but decent gift shop (not hideously overpriced, and not filled with too much in the way of unrelated items), but no snack bar. You will also have to hike-​in and trash-​out your waste on your own, as is the modern style. The visitor’s center is closed Monday but otherwise keeps decent hours, and you can always park there when the center is closed as well. They keep good supplies of maps at the trailhead sites and there are many guided activities, often free.
This is one of those rare places that is both a true center of local natural history heritage and a national treasure, somewhat hidden from public view by the fact it’s neither a national nor state park but a unique sort of hybrid public-​private (non-​profit) partnership with a lot of roots in local preservation groups and individual towns.

I hadn’t heard anything about the Pine Bush until I was looking for a park that wasn’t Washington Park, so I looked for parks on Unilocal and this one came up. I was immediately in love. I even decided to volunteer once a week last summer. It was one of the best experiences of my adult life so far. It has completely changed my outlook and career path.
The Albany Pine Bush Preserve is a pine barrens (one of the largest inland barrens of its kind) and one of the very last refuges for a rare species of butterfly called the Karner Blue. With an ever-​growing acreage currently somewhere around 3,200, you’ll never get bored. The landscape varies greatly from trail to trail. Start behind the Discovery Center and you’ll see how it’s basically a desert with little else growing there besides pitch pines, bushes (hence the name) and shrubs. Cross 155 and you’re in a more deciduous type woods with a more diverse undergrowth (made largely of decidedly invasive species). Even after working closely with the trail stewards for 6 months, there is still much that I haven’t explored.
The Great Dunes trail is my personal favorite, with huge sprawling sand dunes, it’s the closest thing you can get to the Sahara in this part of the world.
Have kids? The Discovery Center is a great place for them. Lots of activities and exhibits for them. There are even summer programs and camps for them to participate in if they really like it there.
Not just for kids, though, the staff are all very knowledgeable. If you have any questions, there will be someone nearby who can answer them. Everyone I met was extremely welcoming and friendly.
This will be the place I miss most about Albany when I move away later this year.

I went hiking at the Albany Pine Bush Preserve with my brother and sister-​in-​law last weekend. I believe they are planning to build a larger/​better nature center, so the parking lot is under construction and a little daunting. But the trails were beautiful and we had a great time hiking around for a couple hours. After we were done our hike, we went into the nature center. The staff was really friendly, and the displays were very interesting and informative. It would be a great place to take kids to on the weekend or for a school trip. But heck, I thought it was great, and I’m 26 years old. Next time I am in Albany, I’ll probably go hike another trail. Beautiful preserve!