The Crow’s Nest Natural Area Preserve is one of the most peaceful and beautiful spots in the area. The trails are well maintained, quiet, and surrounded by incredible scenery the entire way through. It’s the perfect place to get away from the noise for a while and just enjoy nature.

The views along the water are absolutely worth the trip, and there’s a great balance of wooded trails, wildlife, and relaxing atmosphere. Whether you’re hiking, taking photos, fishing, or just clearing your head, this place delivers every time.

Stafford is lucky to have a place like this nearby. Easily one of the best outdoor spots in the region.

This was a fun woodsy walk! There is a trail with hanging vines and a fishing pier that takes you onto the lake. A nice parking place and clean porta-potty (clean but apparently a bring-your-own-hand sanitizer facility lol). We did a mile “hike” and enjoyed it after a million hikes through Government Island, this was a nice, fresh change of pace. The only issue is we took two cars and our two GPS took us to very different locations. You DO NOT want the one that says “Crow’s Nest Trail Head.” As that will take you to a point that turns into a white gravel path with a bunch of no parking signs and brings you seemingly to the middle of nowhere. You want the one just off the main road that DOES have parking and is closest to the canoe launch. Hope this helps avoid the minor mishap we had :)

Beautiful and peaceful! Was not crowded at all felt like we had the water to ourselves. There is a small board walk with an area to launch kayaks it is a walk but I had no issues with my paddle board. There’s plenty of parking and the area was very clean.

Really great spot. Single lane road driving up to the main parking area which may be daunting for some but there were plenty of pull offs in case a car came. Parking was easy and there was even a bathroom there. Good clear marking of the paths. We did the green to the red path for a slightly shorter hike. Very nice mix of trees and plants shake and sun. Tons of little frogs everywhere. Water views was very clean and nice. Saw turtle, frogs, salamander, tons of birds and dragonflies. Would likely be a great place to take kids.

***UPDATE*** trails have been completed a while back and this is still an amazing place to stay connected with nature!!!

This is a great place for our family to hike. Spring 2017 the trails are still under construction and it is kind of confusing because there are multiple trails in The Preserve. Many times we have ran into people who were very disappointed about the length of the trail along Brook Road and we had to direct them to the rest of the trails on the other side of the inlet.