Floating through Bronx wilderness
Experience stunning views of New York City and a forest’s silence from the inside of a canoe
Our canoes startled a great blue heron standing along the bank of the river. Awkwardly, the giant bird flapped its wings, struggling to gain height, until it reached cruising altitude and majestically soared over the treetops and out of view. An awesome sight — all the more so because it was in the Bronx.
With hundreds of acres of parkland, including the New York Botanical Garden and the Bronx Zoo, the Bronx is New York’s greenest borough. And a river runs through it — the Bronx River, a 37-kilometre freshwater stream that starts in Westchester County, meanders through the city for about 13 km, then empties into the East River.
My wife, Carol, and I were among 20 paddlers participating in a canoe and kayak trip sponsored by the Bronx River Alliance. We gathered at the Shoelace Park Boat Launch on a gorgeously clear and cool Saturday morning in May. Leading us were Josue Garcia, 26, a recreation specialist, and Elizabeth (Alex) Severino, 25, an education intern for the Alliance.
Alex and Josue instructed us on paddling techniques and proper use of life vests, explaining that we would paddle downriver about 6 km to the Mitsubishi River Walk near the entrance of the Bronx Zoo, an easy two-hour trip. Then we put our canoes and kayaks — supplied as part of the tour — into the murky waters and got on our way. Alex’s canoe took the lead, while Josue stayed in the rear as the sweep.
The tree-lined, slowly flowing river meandered a lot at the beginning as it passed through the neighbourhoods along Bronx Boulevard, to our left. At one sharp bend, I misjudged the turn and ran the canoe aground. Carol and I pushed off with our paddles with all our might, and we managed to get going again.
Soon the roar of traffic from the Bronx River Parkway on our right gave way to the calls of red-winged blackbirds, cardinals and blue jays. We were leaving the built-up area in our wake and heading into the New York Botanical Garden.
Like many rivers in American cities, the Bronx River was neglected and used as little more than a trash dump. By the end of the 19th century it was heavily polluted from industrial waste. Since 2001 the Bronx River Alliance, working closely with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and other groups, has educated thousands about the value of the river, planted trees along the banks, provided outdoor classrooms for local students and cleared the river of tons of debris and waste. Mussels and oysters have been introduced into the stream to help filter out pollution, and just this year a fish ladder was opened at 180th Street that will allow herring to migrate up the river for the first time in decades. Even eels have made a comeback.
The Alliance offers trips on the Bronx portion of the river from May to early November, including an upper river run (which is what we were on); an estuary paddle along the lower, more industrial portion of the river; and a full-river run of about 13 km.
The upper river run requires one portage inside the botanical garden. Alex explained that we would have to exit the river on the left bank and portage around a waterfall. Each canoe was equipped with a set of attachable wheels. It took teamwork, but we got wheels on all of the canoes and pushed them like wheelbarrows around the falls.
After the portage, we found ourselves in one of the more remote-seeming parts of the river. The silence of the forest surrounded us, interrupted only by water lapping the shore, gurgling over rocks, and by the call of blue jays.
“The silence was the best,” said Giulia Paravicini, 27, a recent graduate of Columbia University ’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Severino, one of our guides, has been with the Alliance for about two years.
“The best part is I get to educate people about a place near their home that they never knew. They get a sense of ownership, and the river gets another parent. So I know that the river is loved,” Alex said.
The river got 20 new parents that day.