Denning Hill
Putnam County, NY

Directions:

Saw Mill River Parkway to the exit for the Taconic State Parkway north; get off at the second exit (for Route 9A); Route 9A north to Route 9; drive past Peekskill and then left turn at light to continue over bridge to the traffic circle; get off the first exit from the traffic circle to continue Route 9 north; go into Putnam County, pass Graymoor, and then just past 2.2 miles from the Westchester border (green mileage marker 10 22) turn right onto West Point Road. Go up the hill to the back entrance of Graymoor and turn right into Graymoor. A short distance ahead either on the right or left is the Appalachian Trail that crosses the road here. Park on the left and descend down the hill on the AT.

Trails:

Descending off of Graymoor to pass over West Point Road (a dirt road at this point); through a stone wall; through another stone wall; cross over another dirt road; head up hill; more ascending to Little Fort Hill; rock outcrops on left and right; go up-hill off to right to a shrine of Virgin Mary with lots of plastic flowers around the shrine (see a sign pushed over); back to the AT; see a big house off to slightly northwest off north (with a little cupola on top); proceed over rocky area then descend; ascend through a valley between rock cliffs on the left and a hill on the right; while walking through the valley take an unmarked path that goes diagonally to the left to a viewpoint looking over West Point, Constitution Island, Storm King and Mount Taurus; big gully on right before final ascent to Denning Hill; view from Denning Hill to the east but not many landmarks can be seen unless you know all the different peaks; start to descend down along a stone wall, but then decide to just turn back.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = blooming on date of trip, November 08, 2002

Trees:
Acer pensylvanicum (goose-foot maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree-of-heaven)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Carya spp. (hickory)
Castanea dentata (American chestnut)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Picea abies (Norway spruce)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Populus grandidentata (big-toothed aspen)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus prinus (chestnut oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Tilia americana (American basswood)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)
Ulmus americana (American elm)

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Chimaphila maculata (striped wintergreen)
Comptonia peregrina (sweetfern)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Gaylussacia baccata (black huckleberry)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel) *
Kalmia latifolia (mountain laurel)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Rhus typhina (staghorn sumac)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Vaccinium pallidum (hillside blueberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaf viburnum)
Viburnum prunifolium (blackhaw viburnum)

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)

Herbs:
Achillea millefolium (yarrow)
Agrimonia sp. (agrimony)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Aster cordifolius (heart-leaved aster)
Aster divaricatus (white wood aster)
Eupatorium rugosum (white snakeroot)
Galium sp. (bedstraw)
Hieracium paniculatum (panicled hawkweed) *
Leonurus cardiaca (motherwort)
Lysimachia quadrifolia (whorled loosestrife)
Plantago major (common plantain)
Solidago bicolor (silverrod)
Solidago caesia (blue-stem goldenrod)
Solidago rugosa (rough-leaved goldenrod
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion) *
Tephrosia virginiana (goat's rue)?
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein)
Veronica officinalis (common speedwell)

Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Sedges:
Carex laxiflora type (loose-flowered sedge type)

Grasses:
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Setaria sp. (green or yellow foxtail grass)
Schizachyrium scoparium (little blue stem grass)

Ferns:
Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hay-scented fern)
Dryopteris marginalis (marginal woodfern)
Polypodium sp. (rock cap fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)