1. Walter L. Ross II Aquarium Building
This building houses over 30 different species of freshwater fish native to New York State. The fish range from the primitive bowfin to the native Long Island brook trout. In the Turtle Alcove you will find our hatchling turtles. Can you match the young turtles with the adults outside? This building was named after Walter L. Ross II who was an avid trout fisherman and enthusiastic board member.

2. Robert Koenig Memorial Pond
Dedicated in September 2001 and generously donated by his family, The Robert Koenig Memorial Pond houses rudd, a few musk turtles and beautiful water lilies and spatterdock plants.3. Hatch House & Rearing Pools
In the Hatch House trout eggs are protected from hungry predators and sunlight. The eggs, taken in early November, hatch in late December. The fish remain here for about four months or until they are moved into the rearing pools. The rearing pools are intermediate pools between the troughs in the Hatch House and the large outdoor Trout Ponds. They provide the needed space for young trout to grow. The fish in these pools will move to the larger ponds within the year.

4. Trout Ponds
Refer to the signs on each pond for the species and their month of hatching. The water that feeds these ponds is 52 degrees year round. You’ll notice the nets over the ponds – these help keep hungry predators such as herons and ospreys from eating the trout.

5. Warm Water Pond
The water in this pond comes from St. John’s Pond, located directly south of the Hatchery. This pond may freeze in winter, but can reach temperatures as warm as 80 degrees in the summer. Unlike trout, the fish in this pond can tolerate higher water temperatures. The inhabitants are varied, including Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass, Bowfin, Longnose Gar, Channel Catfish, Common Carp, Grass Carp, Bluegills, Pumpkinseeds, White and Yellow Perch, American Eels, Walleye, White Bass, Lake Sturgeon, Redhorse Suckers, and Northern Pike.

6. Turtle Pond
This pond has the same water source as the Warm Water Pond. On sunny days some of the turtles will bask on the cedar logs. The various species include Blandings, Painted, Wood, Eastern Spiny Softshell, Snapping, Redbelly, and Common Map Turtles.

7. Round Ponds
In these ponds you will find brook, brown, or rainbow trout ranging from 1-3 years old. The drainage system (water flows in at the side and drains through the middle) makes these ponds almost self-cleaning.

8. Tidal Raceway
Fresh water flows from all outdoor ponds and our artesian wells into the Tidal Raceway, which then empties into Long Island Sound. Our “Catch & Keep Trout Fishing” takes place in the Tidal Raceway every Friday Through Tuesday.

9. Tidal Creek Observation Platform
From this deck you can observe the tidal creek and the spillway of St. John’s Pond. Water from this pond once powered several mills and in the winter supplied ice to an ice house. Although this is no longer a pristine wetlands, there are still many birds and animals which visit, make homes, and sometimes reproduce, in this tidal estuary.

10. Fairchild Exhibit Building
In this building, there are aquariums displaying some of New York’s smaller, native freshwater fish and the “New York Amphibia ” exhibit, the largest living collection of native amphibians in the Northeast. This building is also where you can view Junior, the snapping turtle that was stolen from the Hatchery in 1998 and has been preserved so that visitors may see him and learn his story.
This building is named after Julia Fairchild, a local resident who was a leader in keeping the Hatchery open after the State wanted to close it.

11. Home of Tiny
Tiny is a large Common Snapping Turtle. Tiny weighs 78 pounds and is between 50-100 years old.