Kaal Rock Park
off Gerald Drive between condo complexes, Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New
York
Directions:
From Route 44/55 in downtown Poughkeepsie near the Mid-Hudson Bridge turn south onto Rinaldi Boulevard. Turn right onto Gerald Drive. Turn right onto Hendrick Street, which will lead you down into the parking area of the park.
Geology:
Kaal Rock juts out into the Hudson River. Kaal Rock Park is a great place from which to take pictures of the bridge Mid-Hudson and Railroad bridges.
Trails:
There is talk of building a trail from the southern waterfront to the city parks that skirt the river to the north (Kaal Rock then Waryas). At Waryas, people can walk up Main Street to Poughkeepsie's downtown shops.
Walking south from the parking lot, there is a narrow asphalt path that goes between the cliffs on the left and the Hudson River on the right. The park has not been maintained well. At one time there was a sidewalk with lots of concrete benches, but not the sidewalks are broken and overgrown with weeds and trees. Turning around and walking north will bring the walker up against Kaal Rock. There is a little opening between the wood's edge that leads to the cliff and a way up on top of Kaal Rock. (This is not an official path, so be careful if you try to climb it.) Up on top of the rock turn left and walk to the western edge of the rock overlooking the Mid-Hudson Bridge. Access can be had by two different routes:
head east from the rock's edge out of the woods and onto a huge green lawn; turn left and head between the wood's on the right and the huge, white apartment building on the right and you will come into Waryas Park; or
from the rock's western edge head south along a path that enters the woods and then turns east to bring you to the lawn of a huge, white apartment building and then walk between the woods on the left and the apartment building on the right and it will bring you into Waryas Park.
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.
PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = plant found in bloom on date of field trip 11/10/2006
Trees:
Acer negundo (ash-leaf maple)
Acer saccharinum (silver maple)
Acer sp. (maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree-of-heaven)
Celtis occidentalis (hackberry)
Gleditsia triacanthos (honey locust)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Morus alba (white mulberry)
Pinus sp. (6" long, 2-needled pine)
Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine) planted
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)
Prunus sp. (cherry) planted
Quercus palustris (pin oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Pyrus sp. (crab apple)
Salix alba var. (weeping willow)
Shrubs:
Amorpha fruticosa (false indigo bush)
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Rhamnus cathartica (common buckthorn)
Rhodotypos scandens (jetbead)
Rhus typhina (staghorn sumac)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Syringa sp. (lilac)
Vinca minor (periwinkle)
Vines:
Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (porcelainberry)
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)
Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Arctium sp. (burdock)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Aster cordifolius (heart-leaved aster) *
Centaurea maculosa (spotted knapweed) *
Chelidonium majus (celandine) *
Coronilla varia (crown vetch) *
Hemerocallis fulva (tawny day lily)
Oenothera biennis (common evening primrose)
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed)
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed) *
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed)
Silene vulgaris (bladder campion) *
Solanum dulcamara (bittersweet nightshade)
Solidago sp. (goldenrod)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion)
Trapa natans (water chestnut) the fruits
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein)
Vicia cracca (crown vetch) *
Sedges:
Cyperus sp. (nut or umbrella sedge)
Grasses:
Sichizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem grass)