McGuire Fields Park Hiking Trails

McGuire Fields Park is a 77-acre park located in Bergen Beach, Brooklyn and provides sweeping vistas of Paerdegat Basin, a beautiful 1.25 mile channel that empties into Jamaica Bay. The park is located just south of Paerdegat Basin Park and can be best accessed from the intersection of Bergen Avenue and Avenue W. McGuire Fields features a wide variety of recreational facilities such as baseball fields, picnic areas, tennis courts and the McGuire Field Tot Lot Playground. It is also home to the John Malone Community Center which provides programming events for the community. McGuire Fields is also home to a beautiful natural area that runs along the western edge of Paerdegat Basin which provides opportunities to explore its grasslands, tidal wetland and coastal maritime forest.

The forest contains red maple (Acer rubrum), black oak (Quercus velutina), winged sumac (Rhus copallinum) and American holly (Ilex opaca) which provides a habitat for wildlife including monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) and ground nesting birds such as the northern harrier (Circus hudsonius). The park is adjacent to the Jamaica Bay Riding Academy which provides horseback riding opportunities in Brooklyn. The park is also located along the Atlantic Flyway which provides excellent opportunities for bird watching along the short trails that radiate from the northern end of the park

Blue Trail: The Blue Trail is a short, 0.26 -mile long trail which can be best accessed via the park entrance at Bergen Avenue and Avenue W near the McGuire Field Tot Lot Playground.The trail has relatively flat, sandy terrain which makes it ideal for families or lunch break strolls in the natural area. Along the way, the looped trail brings visitors through a coastal maritime forest populated with an array of native vegetation such as sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), oaks (Quercus spp.), American holly (Ilex opaca) and Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia). Visitors who continue north along the trail are rewarded with sweeping vistas of Paerdegat Basin, extensive tidal wetlands full of spartina grasses (spartina spp.), groundsel bush (Baccharis halimifolia) and the lower Manhattan skyline.

Bridle Trail: The 0.98-mile long Bridle Trail also begins near the park entrance at Bergen Avenue and Avenue W near the McGuire Field Tot Lot Playground. This trail runs north-south along the Belt Parkway for a majority of the route and has connections to the equestrian trails from the Jamaica Bay Riding Academy off the eastbound side of the Belt Parkway. The trail begins at a young Million Trees planting site full of juniper (Juniperus virginiana), oaks (Quercus spp.), pines (Pinus spp.) and beach plum (Prunus maritima). The trail opens up briefly into a shrubby grassland before returning to a tall, canopied forest of black cherry (Prunus serotina), walnuts (Juglans spp.) and Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis). The park’s diverse habitat creates a safe haven for many species of birds such as northern red cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis), finches (Fringillidae), catbirds (Dumetella carolinensis) making it an excellent place for bird watching.

Interactive Map

Download the McGuire Fields Park Trail Guide.

Points of Interest

Paerdegat Basin

Paerdegat Basin is a 1.25-mile long channel in Bergen Basin, Brooklyn which empties into Jamaica Bay. The basin’s name is derived from the Dutch word for “horse gate” and historically was a freshwater-fed tidal creek known at various times as Bestevaar Kill, Bedford Creek, and Paerdegat Creek. The tidal wetland is home to native spartina cordgrasses (spartina spp.) and groundsel bush (Baccharis halimifolia). On a clear day, visitors can see all the way out to the lower Manhattan skyline. For best access to the scenic viewpoint, take the Blue Trail.

View Paerdegat Basin on the map

Hiking in NYC Parks

Visit our Hiking in NYC Parks page to find more nature trails in parks across New York City.