Author: nature_admin

Fifty years ago this year, the Kestrel family signed over roughly 2,400 acres of forest, wetland, and ridgeline to Alder County, with one condition attached: the land would stay open to the public, free of charge, for good. That single decision is the reason Kestrel Ridge exists as a park today rather than as house lots or a private hunting preserve.

The Kestrel farmhouse itself is long gone, but the old orchard near the Ridgeline Road lot still produces apples every September, and a few of the original stone walls that marked the farm’s boundary are still visible along the Deep Woods Loop if you know where to look.

What’s changed most in fifty years isn’t the land — it’s the number of people who use it. The park saw a few hundred visitors a year in the 1970s. Today it’s closer to 60,000, and the trail network has grown from a single fire road to fourteen miles of maintained trail, almost all of it built and kept up by volunteers.

We’ll be marking the anniversary with a few small events this year, starting with an extended ranger-led walk covering the history of the land. Details will be posted here and at the kiosk as they’re finalized.

Every fall, a small crew of volunteers spends a Saturday clearing deadfall, resetting waterbars, and repainting blazes along the Ridge Trail before the ground freezes. This year’s work day landed a mix of longtime regulars and a handful of first-timers, and we got through the whole 4.2-mile trail in about six hours.

The steep switchbacks below the overlook took the worst of the summer’s storms — two sections needed new waterbars to keep the trail from washing out, and a fallen hemlock had to be cut and cleared near the halfway point. Both are done now, and the trail is in good shape heading into the quieter months.

We’re always looking for more hands for these work days, no experience necessary — just a willingness to carry tools uphill. If you’re interested in joining the next one, use the contact form and select “Volunteering” as the topic, and we’ll add you to the list for the spring trail day.

Thanks to everyone who came out this year. The ridge overlook is one of the best views in Alder County, and it stays that way because of days like this.

If you’ve walked the Wetland Boardwalk in the last two weeks, you’ve probably heard it before you saw it: a rough, croaking rattle from somewhere in the reeds. That’s the sandhill-like call of a great blue heron pair that’s been fishing the marsh most mornings this month.

Volunteer birder Dana R. has logged sightings at the kiosk almost daily: wood ducks near the north culvert, a belted kingfisher working the same snag every dawn, and — on two mornings so far — a single osprey passing high overhead, likely stopping over on its way further north.

Early morning, an hour after sunrise, is consistently the best window. The boardwalk is flat and easy underfoot, so it’s a good outing even if you’re new to birdwatching. Bring binoculars if you have them, but the boardwalk gets close enough to the open water that you can often get a good look without.

If you spot something worth noting, add it to the sightings log at the kiosk — it helps us track how the wetland’s bird population changes through the season.