Franklin Fels Sanctuary
across from #23 Lakeview Road, Town of North Salem, Westchester County, NY
204 acres

Directions:

From I-684 in Purdys, take Route 116 east along the Titicus Reservoir to Delancey Road. Turn left (north) on Delancey Road and proceed to Lakeview Drive on the left (note: go to the second entrance for Lakeview Drive). Turn left onto Lakeview, a residential road. Go down a steep hill and park at the bottom of the almost "hairpin" turn on the right. The sanctuary trailhead is here on the right.

History:

Bedford Audubon Society.

Trails:

4/20/2002.  Got a little lost in this park without any trail blazes. Start out heading downhill to a stream. The area can be a little wet. Cross over the stream heading west. Reach a T-intersection and turn right (north). Head through an opening in a stone wall.

The trail bends left and you start going south and southwest. Reach a T-intersection. (If you go right you just go up to the backyards of houses.) Go straight (south). Start reaching Titicus Reservoir. Have to turn left (east). Here's where I went wrong. I should have taken a left turn where I could have, instead of continuing on which just took me southeast down to Little Mountain Road that comes out on Titicus Road (Route 116).

I ended up heading down Little Mountain Road, then east on Route 116 and then took a left turn onto Delancy Road and a left onto the second Lakeview Road sign and walking back to the car at #23 Lakeview Road. Saw coltsfoot in bloom along the road, as well as Equisetum hyemale. Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.

4/27/2005.  What a difference trail blazes make!!!!  I did not get lost this time.  I followed the white trail around the perimeter of the sanctuary without any problems.  It is a pretty big place and the distance surprised me a little.  Ceferino Santana, dog Sonar and I followed the white entrance trail through wet areas (wilth short board walks and a bridge over a stream) to a T-intersection, the start of the white-blazed circuit trail.  Passed by the yellow trail.  The yellow trail is a short-cut trail to lessen the distance of the circular white trail.  There is an additional blue loop trail from and back to the white trail that one can add on for a longer walk.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
dates = plants blooming on dates of field trips, 4/02/02 and 4/27/05

Trees:
Acer pensylvanicum (striped maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple) 4/01/02
Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya glabra (pignut hickory)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Carya sp. (hickory)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Ostrya virginiana (American hop hornbeam)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Populus grandidentata (big-toothed aspen)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)

Shrubs and sub-shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry) lots and lots
Chimaphila maculata (spotted wintergreen)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Forsythia sp. (golden bells) planted  4/27/05
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush) 4/27/05
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Rhododendron periclymenoides (pinxter flower)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Vaccinium sp. (hillside or low bush blueberry)
Viburnum lentago (nannyberry viburnum)

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)

Herbs:
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) 4/27/05
Allium tricoccum (wild leek)
Allium vineale (field garlic)
Arabis laevigata (smooth rockcress) 4/27/05
Arisaema triphyllum (Jack-in-the-pulpit)
Caltha palustris (marsh marigold) 4/27/05
Cardamine diphylla (large toothwort) 4/27/05 soon
Cardamine hirsuta (hoary bittercress) 4/27/05
Erythronium americanum (trout lily)
Galium sp. (bedstraw)
Geranium sp. (geranium)
Geum canadense (white avens)
Impatiens sp. (jewelweed)
Maianthemum canadense (Canada mayflower)
Plantago major (common plantain)
Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil)
Pyrola elliptica (shinleaf)
Ranunculus abortivus (kidney-leaf crowfoot) 4/27/05
Ranunculus recurvatus (hooked crowfoot)
Rumex obtusifolius (broad dock)
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion) 4/27/05
Veratrum viride (false hellebore)
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein)
Viola blanda (sweet white violet) 4/27/05
Viola sororia (common blue violet) 4/27/05

Sedges:
Carex laxiflora type (sedge)
Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge)

Ferns:
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)