James Lane Post highlights a different spot to explore outdoors on the East End in our series “A Walk Outside.” This week: The Nature Trail aka The Duck Pond.
The Nature Trail in East Hampton, better known as The Duck Pond, is a great outdoor excursion for any age. Located off of David’s Lane in the Village, the area offers 24-acres to explore.
Visitors can view and feed the waterfowl, which populate the spot year-round since the area of Hook Pond never fully freezes in the winter.
According to the Ladies Village Improvement Society, “We encourage nutritional feeding (poultry feed, cracked corn) and try to dissuade tossing of commercial bread products, especially bagels, into the water.”
The preserve was once a private Japanese garden. It has been opened to the public since the 1940s. The first eight acres were donated by Mary Woodhouse to the Village in 1951.
The LVIS, along with the Garden Club of East Hampton, manage the maintenance of the trails. East Hampton Village handles the preservation and protection.