Lents Cove Village Park
Broadway, Buchanan, Town of Cortlandt, Westchester County, New York
The property is adjacent to one of the Indian Point power plants
Directions:
Saw Mill River Parkway north to Taconic State Parkway north to exit for Route 9A that empties into Route 9; get off the exit for Welcher Avenue; turn left onto Welcher Avenue; turn left onto Route 9A heading south; drive 0.3 of a mile and turn right onto Bleakley Avenue (signs for Indian Point); drive 0.4 of a mile and turn right onto Broadway. Drive 0.2 of a mile and turn left into the park.
History:
Revolutionary War -- Lent's Cove proved a safe harbor for British forces.
Indian Point power plants are owned by Entergy Nuclear Northeast. The village of Buchanan acquired the land for the park through an agreement with the plant's former owner, Consolidated Edison, swapping one piece of property with another.
2002 – a grant from the state Department of Environmental Conservation's Hudson River Estuary program provided $12,000 on the condition that the village contribute 50 percent more or $6,000 toward the nature trail's construction
2004 (October 16) – Buchanan officials dedicated the park.
Facilities:
ball park, benches, picnic tables and a boat launch
Trails:
The Lent's Cove path is part of the Hudson River Valley Greenway Trail System.
Segment 4 – Peekskill/Buchanan border to Steamboat River Park (2.0 miles)
This section of the RiverWalk follows Broadway starting at Lents Cove Village Park at the Peekskill/Buchanan municipal border and heads south past Indian Point through the hamlet of Verplanck to the waterfront at Steamboat River Park. Broadway is part of the Cortlandt Shoreline Trail route and is a main thoroughfare through this area. It is improved in sections with sidewalks and shoulders.
The trail is just under a mile and follows along the Hudson’s riverbank with views of the Hudson and Bear Mountain Bridge. The trail is wooded so you cannot see the plant at Indian Point.
Local resident Bob Vargo said that at the end of the trail, you can find bald eagles that will hang out there until March.
Source (Marcela Rojas, The Nature Path Leads to River, The Journal News, October 7, 2004 http://www.nynews.com/newsroom/100704/b03p07lentscove.html
11/26/04. Parked in the parking area not far Lent's Cove. One can see the Bear Mountain Bridge from the parking area, but it appears very small. A much better place from which to look at it is at Pier Park at Charles Point, not very far away.
We picked up the Tropia Trail heading past the ball field. The trail follows closely along the cliffside and is at times a little too uncomfortably close. There are a lot of rocky ridges heading down to the riverside. The woods is primarily oak woods. Good views of the Charles Point Industrial Area across Lent's Cove. There are no trail blazes and at times the path was a bit hard to find. And then when we reached a shallow ravine the trail just ended with no warning. So we turned around and came back.
From the picnic area I followed the short asphalt path down to the tip of the peninsula jutting out into Lent's Cove. There are two very short side semi-circular wood chip paths coming off the asphalt trail. I followed the paths back to the parking lot and my car. Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.
PLANT LIST
Dr. Patrick Louis Cooney
* = blooming on the date of the field trip, November 26, 2004
Trees:
Acer platanoides (Norway maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree-of-heaven)
Amelanchier arborea (shadbush)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Betula nigra (river birch) planted
Carya sp. (hickory)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Liquidambar styraciflua (sweetgum) planted
Ostrya virginiana (eastern hop hornbeam)
Pinus strobus (white pine) planted
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore) planted
Populus deltoides (cottonwood)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus prinus (chestnut oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)
Shrubs:
Amorpha fruticosa (false indigo bush)
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry) planted
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus) planted
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Ilex sp. (holly) planted
Kalmia latifolia (mountain laurel) 6/6/94 only a few in bloom
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Myrica pensylvanica (bayberry)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Vaccinium sp. (a low bush blueberry)
Viburnum sp. (prunifolium) ? (blackhaw viburnum) ?
Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Clematis terniflora (sweet autumn clematis)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)
Herbs:
Achillea millefolium (yarrow)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Arctium sp. (burdock)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Aster spp. (aster)
Hackelia virginiana (Virginia stickseed)
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife)
Oenothera biennis (common evening primrose)
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed)
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain)
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed)
Rumex crispus (curled dock)
Solidago spp. (goldenrod)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion) *
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein)
Sedges:
Carex laxiflora (loose-flowered sedge)
Grasses:
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)
Setaria faberi (nodding foxtail grass)
Tridens flavus (purple top grass)
Ferns:
Dryopteris marginalis (marginal woodfern)