Indian Brook
Indian Brook Road, Philipstown township, Putnam County, NY

Directions:

From Westchester County.  Saw Mill River Parkway north to the Hawthorne exit; at light turn left getting onto Route 9A north; keep going straight and 9A dumps you into Route 9 north; past Peekskill Route 9 turns left over Annsville Creek;  take the first exit off the traffic circle following Route 9 north; pass by Graymoor; turn left onto Indian Brook Road; follow the unpaved road almost to the parking lot at Constitution Island Marsh; on the left is a closed gate under the bridge for Route 9D; park by this gate. 

Trails:

Go past the gate and cross over the stone bridge spanning Indian Brook.  At the end of the bridge, turn left and head down toward the brook.  Follow the red trail and the brook to the three-story high water fall(s).  It is only a short walk.  When we were there, July 7, 2003, there were eight people swimming (yes, swimming allowed). 

There are unblazed trails on the other side of the bridge you can follow.  You come to a fork in the main path.  We went left following parallel along Route 9D for awhile.  The path leads down to a small community. 

Nearby is:

Dick's Castle
Route 9D
33 acres

Financier Evans P. Dick and his wife traveled extensively in Europe, primarily in Spain.  His wife got the idea to build a Moorish-style castle in Garrison modeled after the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. They wanted to outdo the Vanderbilt Mansion in Hyde Park and designed the three-story structure to include 52 rooms and 25 fireplaces. The elaborate landscaping was to include a canal flanked by a Roman viaduct.

1880s  --  the site acquired.

1903  --  construction begins on the white Moorish-style mansion

1911  --  after spending more than $3 million to build the 45,000-square-foot structure, Dick ran into financial difficulties and had to abandon the project.  

It has been sitting empty for almost 80 years, having never been lived in except for a caretaker's apartment.

since 1979  --  sold four times.

Elcastillo Ltd. owns the structure and wants the castle to become a world-class inn.

(Source: http://www.pojonews.com/enjoy/stories/0917961.htm)

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney and Rosemary Santana Cooney
* = plant in bloom 7/6/2003

Trees:
Acer pensylvanicum (goose-foot maple)
Acer platanoides (Norway maple)
Acer saccharinum (sugar maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree-of-heaven)
Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Tilia americana (American basswood)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)
Ulmus americana (American elm)
Ulmus rubra (slippery elm)

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Pachysandra terminalis (pachysandra)
Philadelphus sp. (mock orange)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaf viburnum)
Vinca minor (periwinkle)

Vines:
Amphicarpaea bracteata (hog peanut)
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)

Herbs:
Actaea alba (doll's eyes)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) *
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed)
Aralia nudicaulis (wild sarsaparilla)
Arctium minus (common burdock)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Asclepias exaltata (poke milkweed) *
Cardamine impatiens (narrow-leaved bittercress)
Circaea lutetiana (enchanter's nightshade) *
Collinsonia canadensis (horsebalm)
Erigeron annuus (daisy fleabane) *
Eupatorium rugosum (white snakeroot)
Galium aparine (cleavers)
Galium sp. (bedstraw) six in whorl
Geranium robertianum (herb Robert) *
Geum canadense (white avens) *
Impatiens sp. (jewelweed)
Lapsana communis (nipplewort) *
Leonurus cardiaca (motherwort) *
Maianthemum canadense (Canada mayflower)
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel) *
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain)
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed) *
Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed)
Ranunculus recurvatus (hooked crowfoot)
Rumex obtusifolius (broad dock)
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Thalictrum pubescens (tall meadowrue) *

Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Sedges:
Scirpus atrovirens (dark green bulrush)

Grasses:
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass)
Phleum pratense (timothy grass)

Ferns:
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Dryopteris intermedia (fancy woodfern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Polypodium sp. (rockcap fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)