Meadowlands Pontoon Ride with Visit to Dekorte Park

Date: Tuesday, June 10, 2025

Leader: Christopher Takas
Transportation: Carpool Trip – Drivers willing to provide rides are encouraged to attend. The Registrar will work with participants without a vehicle to organize rides and share the suggested carpool fee for the driver. This usually works out, but we can not guarentee a ride unless there are enough enough volunteer drivers.
Meeting Point: After your registration is confirmed, the Registrar will share directions, the exact meeting place, and time with attendees.
Schedule: The trip will begin in the early afternoon
Relative Difficulty: We will be in a pontoon boat 5:30-7:30 pm. Seats are limited to 10 participants. If we have enough drivers, we will add a walk in DeKorte Park before the boat trip, approximately 3-5:00 pm.

Trip Description: The Meadowlands District and River Barge Park are just 4 miles from Manhattan. The area is being restored to benefit all wildlife, including birds, and to provide easy access to nature in the shadow of NYC. We will explore the waterways (part of the Hackensack River watershed) by pontoon boat from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. Assuming enough drivers, we will have a 2-hour walk beforehand in Richard W. DeKorte Park, also part of the Meadowlands. Our leader is Christopher Takas, Board Member and Trip Committee leader at Bergen County Audubon. Directions will be provided for driving, and also for transportation via bus or train (if needed). Expected expenses are driver compensation or public transit + taxi costs; also it is also customary to tip the pontoon Captain. Plan to leave the city by early afternoon and return after 8 p.m.

Please read The Linnaean Society of New York COVID-19 Field Trip Guidelines before registering.

Registration: Registration opens at 9 am on Monday, May 26. After that time, click here to register. Registration closes at 6 pm on Saturday, June 7. Members (and those who have applied for membership) will be prioritized over non-members.

Please read the About Our Trips page, if you’re going on a field trip for the first time. It details our field trip policies, recommends what to bring on a trip, and offers other useful information, pro tips, and tricks.

If after visiting the About Our Trips page, you still have questions, feel free to contact the Registrar via email.