Margaret Lewis Norrie State Park
Old Post Road, P.O. Box 893
Old Post Road, Staatsburg, Dutchess County, NY 12580

Mills-Norrie State Park is actually two connecting state parks: Margaret Lewis Norrie and Ogden & Ruth Livingston Mills State Parks, bounded on the west by the Hudson River.

Directions:

Taconic State Parkway north to the exit for Route 115 (Salt Point Turnpike); head south and later turn right onto Route 41 (Netherwood Road); pass by Route 16 and Route 9G and turn right onto Route 9 north; turn left onto Old Post Road; turn left onto Norrie Point Way, the entrance to the park. Follow the signs to the places you want to visit.

History:

The park includes the Norrie Point Boat Basin which is an expansion of what once was a mooring basin for the private yachts of the wealthy who resided along the Hudson and sailed up from New York City to their estates in Staatsburg.

There is a large monument on the grounds: "This playground was given to the People of Staatsburg in memory of Lewis Gordon Norrie and his happy youth. December 25, 1901 - September 23, 1923."

1933 -- a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp was established at the park. CCC projects in the park include construction of the road system, parking lots, the railroad underpass and the Norrie Inn (now the DCC Environmental Museum).

1934 -- Margaret Lewis Norrie State Park donated to the state by sister of Mrs. Norrie.

There are only the remains of the estate. There is still stand the European castle-style well house from which water was supplied to a number of neighboring estate houses.

Facilities:

A bridle path, scenic hiking, biking and snowmobiling trails are available.

Habitats:

woodland pools, swamps, woods, riverbank

Trails:

9/21/03. On a Sunday, we (Rosemary Cooney, Lauren Christie, Sonar (the Jack Russell terrier) and I) visited the Environmental Center area even though the center itself was not open. Laster we parked in the main parking area for the picnic grounds. Followed the blue trail northwest down close to the water (and then went off trail to get down to the Hudson River). Returned the same way we came.

There is a white trail heading into the woods in a northeast direction heading out from the Dutchesss Community College Environmental Center. You can take the red trail to the Environmental Center.

There is also a yellow trail.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = plant found in bloom, 9/21/03

Trees:
Acer platanoides (Norway maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree-of-heaven)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya cordiformis (bitternut hickory)
Carya glabra (pignut hickory)
Carya tomentosa (mockernut hickory)
Celtis occidentalis (hackberry)
Cercis canadensis (red bud)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Gleditsia triacanthos (honey locust)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Morus alba (white mulberry)
Ostrya virginiana (American hop hornbeam)
Picea abies (Norway spruce)
Pinus sp. (pine)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)
Populus deltoides (cottonwood)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus palustris (pin oak) planted
Quercus prinus (chestnut oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Rhamnus cathartica (common buckthorn)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Thuja occidentalis (north white cedar)
Tilia americana (American basswood)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)
Ulmus americana (American elm)
unknown tree with fruits like wild yam root, but bigger AD; hairy lf stalk; short pointed ate end of leaf

Shrubs and sub-shrubs:
Alnus serrulata (smooth alder)
Amorpha fruticosa (false indigo)
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Cornus racemosa (gray dogwood)
Corylus sp. (hazel)
Forsythia sp. (golden bells)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Ilex verticillata (winterberry holly)
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Philadelphus sp. (mock orange)
Rhus copallina (winged sumac)
Rhus glabra (smooth sumac)
Rhus typhina (staghorn sumac)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Staphylea trifolia (bladdernut)
Syringa vulgaris (common lilac)
Viburnum dentatum (hairy arrowwood viburnum)
Viburnum dentatum (smooth arrowwood viburnum)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaf viburnum)
Vinca minor (periwinkle)

Vines:
Calystegia sepium (hedge bindweed)
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Cuscuta sp. (dodder)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vincetoxicum nigrum (black swallowwort) quite a lot of it
Vitis aestivalis (summer grape) we ate quite a few of them
Wisteria sp. (wisteria)

Herbs:
Acalypha sp. (three-seeded mercury)
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Amaranthus cannabinus (salt marsh hemp weed)
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed)
Amphicarpaea bracteata (hog peanut)
Apocynum cannabinum (Indian hemp)
Arisaema triphyllum (Jack-in-the-pulpit)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed)
Aster cordifolius (heart-leaved aster) *
Aster divaricatus (white wood aster) *
Aster novi-belgii (New York aster) *
Aster sp. (heath aster type) *
Bidens comosa (beggar ticks) *
Bidens frondosa (beggar ticks) *
Boehmeria cylindrica (false nettle)
Centaurea jacea (brown knapweed) *
Centaurea maculosa (spotted knapweed) *
Chelone glabra (white turtle head) *
Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (ox-eye daisy)
Cichorium intybus (chicory) *
Commelina communis (Asiatic dayflower) *
Convallaria majalis (lily of the valley)
Conyza canadensis (horseweed)
Cryptotaenia canadensis (honewort)
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace) *
Desmodium glutinosum (pointed-leaved tick trefoil)
Desmodium rotundifolium (round-leaved tick trefoil)
Dianthus armeria (Deptford pink) *
Erechtites hieraciifolia (pileweed)
Erigeron annuus (daisy fleabane) *
Eupatorium altissimum (tall boneset)? *
Eupatorium fistulosum (trumpetweed) *
Eupatorium rugosum (white snakeroot) *
Euphorbia cyparissias (cypress spurge)
Euphorbia nutans (upright spurge)
Euthamia graminifolia (grass-leaved goldenrod) *
Fragaria virginiana (wild strawberry)
Galium sp. (Bedstraw)
Geranium maculatum (wild geranium)
Geum canadense (white avens)
Glechoma hederacea (gill-over-the-ground)
Helenium autumnale (common sneezeweed) *
Helianthus divaricatus (woodland sunflower) *
Hemerocallis fulva (tawny daylily)
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed) *]
Iris sp. (iris)
Lactuca canadensis (wild lettuce) *
Lemna sp. (duckweed)
Linaria vulgaris (butter and eggs) *
Lobelia inflata (Indian tobacco) *
Lycopus sp. (water horehound)
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife) *
Medicago lupulina (black medick)
Mentha x piperita (peppermint) *
Mirabilis nyctaginea (wild four o'clock)
Nuphar advena? (Southern pond lily) ?
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel)*
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed) *
Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed)
Prunella vulgaris (self-heal) *
Rumex crispus (curled dock)
Rumex obtusifolius (broad dock)
Saponaria officinalis (bouncing bet) *
Satureja vulgaris (wild basil) *
Sicyos angulatus (one-seeded cucumber)
Silene vulgaris (bladder campion) *
Solanum carolinense (horse nettle)
Solidago bicolor (silverrod) *
Solidago caesia (blue-stem goldenrod) *
Solidago juncea (early goldenrod) *
Solidago rugosum (rough-leaved goldenrod) *
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion) *
Thalictrum pubescens (tall meadowrue)
Trapa natans (water chestnut)
Trifolium pratense (red clover) *
Tussilago farfara (coltsfoot)
Typha latifolia (broad-leaved cattail)
Vallisneria americana (water celery)
Verbena urticifolia (white vervain)
Veronica officinalis (common speedwell)

Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Sedges:
Carex lurida (sallow sedge)
Carex stricta (tussock sedge)
Cyperus sp. (nut or umbrella sedge)
Scirpus atrovirens (dark green bulrush)

Grasses:
Cinna arundinacea (woods reedgrass)
Digitaria sp. (crab grass)
Echinochloa crus-galli (barnyard grass)
Eleusine indica (goose or zipper grass)
Elymus virginicus (Virginia wild rye grass)
Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)
Tridens flavus (purple top)

Ferns:
Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hay-scented fern)
Dryopteris marginalis (marginal woodfern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Pteridium aquilinum (bracken fern)