Mapping The Sawkill Watershed Project: Sawkill Walking Tour #1

Join us for a guided walking tour with Beth Reichheld exploring the lower reaches of the Bearsville Flats and the surrounding watershed landscape that feeds Woodstock’s municipal drinking water system, part of the larger Sawkill Creek watershed system.

This first walk in the Sawkill series traces the living infrastructure of water—how it moves through land, forest, soil, and community. We will walk through sections of the creeks riparian corridor, and adjacent terrain to better understand how local ecology directly connects to Woodstock’s drinking water supply.

Rick Volz Field parking lot (Dixon Ave, Woodstock, NY).
Please arrive 10 minutes early so we can begin promptly at 11:00 AM.

• A slow-paced, 2-hour guided walking tour
• Ecological and watershed overview of the Sawkill system
• Discussion of land use, water flow, and local environmental history
• Time for questions, observation, and informal conversation

• Comfortable walking shoes that can enter the water (uneven terrain in places)
• Water bottle
• Sun protection (hat/sunscreen)
• Weather-appropriate clothing
• walking polls

This is a field-based walking experience across uneven terrain. If you have accessibility needs or questions, please reach out in advance so we can support participation where possible.

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This walk is part of the Mapping the Sawkill Watershed Project, a multi-part initiative designed to build relationships with Woodstock’s waterways and with one another through shared exploration, learning, and stewardship.

BIO

Beth Reichheld served as director of the NYC DEP Stream Management Program (SMP) for 30+ years, working with county soil and water conservation districts managing rivers and floodplains throughout the Catskills using an approach that reduces erosion and flood risks, protects infrastructure, and improves habitats and water quality. In collaboration with those living and working in the Catskills, the SMP and SWCDs built a science-based and proactive stream-stewardship ethic and implemented stream restoration projects on dozens of miles of Catskill streams. Beth has served on the Woodstock Land Conservatory board, the Woodstock zoning and comprehensive planning committees and helped develop the Catskills’ wetland and watercourse ordinance. Before coming to the Catskills in 1992, Beth earned her bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Bowdoin College and a master's degree in forest science from Yale.