RamsHorn-Livingston Sanctuary proves, swamps can be exceedingly beautiful, full of wildflowers, rustling marsh grasses and intriguing rock outcroppings. Paddling through the creek, curvy as old-fashioned ribbon candy, you’ll make the acquaintance of dragonflies, great blue herons, flocks of waterfowl, muskrats and river otters, and maybe a bald eagle. In other words, while this is an ideal place to get away from it all, you’ll have plenty of company. 612 acres of swamp may not have the cachet of a mountain peak, but what it lacks in grandeur it makes up for in wildlife diversity. RamsHorn-Livingston Sanctuary is co-owned and co-managed with Audubon New York.

The Sanctuary is free and open year-round, dawn to dusk.