Derway Island Nature Preserve

Derway Island in Burlington is actually not an island but a peninsula. Located at the Winooski River Delta and accessed by North Ave extension, The park is a 148-acre nature preserve acquired with help from The Nature Conservancy.  

Being near the Winooski River delta it’s rather buggy from late spring to mid-summer, but as we move towards late summer and fall, it’s a perfect time to walk these trails. Located at the end of North Ave, the entrance to this natural area is a lot just beyond the water treatment facility. The Derway Island Trail to the right heads towards and follows the Winooski River through woodland, fields, and even past an old rusted car!

The Derway Cove path takes you to the river delta with beautiful views of wetlands, Lake Champlain, and the bike path bridge over the Winooski. This area used to be a marina but was purchased and preserved by the Lake Champlain Land Trust and Winooski Valley Park District in 2018.

Open dawn to dusk, explore the area and be prepared to catch a mighty blue heron or bald eagle flying about!

More info on this unique habitat:

For an urban area, the extent to which the ecological communities and systems are intact is unusual. The property also supports several rare species and significant plant communities. Derway Island is largely timbered with several excellent shrub swamps and an emergent marsh on the western edge. The dominant trees are red and silver maples, elm, ash, birch and cottonwood. Buttonbush is the principal species in the swamps.

The diversity of wildlife is high because of the varied plant communities found in a relatively small area. Songbirds are numerous, and it is an important area for wading birds. Osprey and other birds of prey have been sighted as well as a variety of ducks. Larger mammals, such as beaver, muskrat, raccoon, fox, otter, mink and deer are also known to use the area.

The watery channels within this Nature Preserve are important breeding areas for several species of fish from Lake Champlain such as northern pike and chain pickerel. The isolated nature of the land makes it an important stop for migrating birds.