Crawbuckie Nature Preserve
Beech Road, Ossining, Westchester County, NY

Directions:

Route 9A north to the exit for Route 133 (just north of the light at Chappaqua Road); turn left at the stop sign onto Route 133 (Croton Avenue); drive 1.3 miles and turn right onto Highland Avenue; drive 0.6 of a mile to the light where the road forks (stay to the left/straight); into just 0.1 of a mile turn left onto Beech Road; drive 0.4 of a mile to the dead end for Beech Road. The entrance is across from the house at the end of the dead end street.

History:

On May 14, 1997 Governor Pataki conveyed 11.9 acres of state property adjacent to the Hudson River to the Village of Ossining. The property is that between Snowden Avenue and the river. It was added to the Village's Crawbuckie Nature Preserve.

Trails:

When the Croton Aqueduct crosses Beach Road in Ossining, hikers may detour to the west to the Crawbuckie Nature Preserve, a 12-acre loop down to the railroad tracks.

9/28/03. Hurricane Isabel is supposed to arrive today, but later in the afternoon. It went ashore in North Carolina. This park only has a short walk. Shortly after entering the woods, there is a sign saying Loop 2 to the left; Loop 1 to the right. This is a bit misleading because there seems to be only one real loop since the two "loops" converge. Loop 2 goes along the ridge until it descends to Loop 1; Loop 1 goes down closer to the railroad tracks. I took Loop 1; it passes by the junction with Loop 2 (it is not an obvious junction unless coming from the other direction); the path keeps going and if you rough it out you can make it down to the railroad tracks (Danger!! Be careful not to get too close to the tracks because of the electrified third rail!!) Also on Loop 1 there is an informal trail down to the little creek and then through the giant reedgrass to the railroad tracks. You can return to the parking lot via the Loop 2 trail. (Many areas of the trail were overgrown and I had to cut my way through the tangles of multiflora rose, wineberry, and Asiatic bittersweet. The spicebush was also overgrowing the Loop 1 trail.) Two interesting botanical finds were the magnolia trees and several cork trees.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = plant found in bloom, 9/18/03

Trees:
Acer platanoides (Norway maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree-of-heaven)
Carya cordiformis (bitternut hickory)
Carya tomentosa (mockernut hickory)
Celtis occidentalis (hackberry)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Magnolia tripetala (umbrella magnolia)
Morus alba (white mulberry)
Phellodendron amurense (cork tree)
Populus deltoides (cottonwood)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Salix sp. (willow tree)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Tilia americana (American basswood)

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Pachysandra terminalis (pachysandra)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora arose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Viburnum sieboldii (Siebold's viburnum)
Vinca minor (periwinkle)

Vines:
Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (porcelain berry)
Calystegia sepium (hedge bindweed) *
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Hedera helix (English ivy)
Humulus japonica (Japanese hops)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Sicyos angulatus (one-seeded cucumber)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis aestivalis (summer grape)

Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Aster divaricatus (white woodland aster) *
Cirsium arvense (Canada thistle)
Commelina communis (Asiatic dayflower) *
Epifagus virginiana (beech drops)
Erechtites hieraciifolia (pileweed)
Hackelia virginiana (Virginia stickseed)
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed) *
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife) *
Pilea pumila (clearweed)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed) *
Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed)
Solidago canadensis (Canada goldenrod) *
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Urtica dioica v. dioica (stinging nettle)
Urtica dioica v. procera (tall stinging nettle)

Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Grasses:
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reedgrass)
Setaria faberi (nodding foxtail grass)

Ferns:
Equisetum arvense (field horsetail)
Equisetum hyemale (scouring rush)
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)