Shadmoor State Park
Montauk Highway, Montauk, Town of East Hampton
99 acres

Directions:

2.5 miles east of the village of Montauk on the Montauk Highway. Not far past the Montauk Library, on the right side of the road pull into the parking lot at a big sign for Shadmoor State Park.

History:

before 1879 -- East Hampton farmers drove their livestock here in May and then off in November.

1879 -- Montauk sold and livestock grazing stopped.

World War II -- the U.S. was at war and concerned about German submarines off the coast. The U.S. Army erected two bunkers for use as 15-inch gun coastal artillery fire control stations.

1980s -- the new owners of the land and developers Peter Schub and Robert Bear plan to put in housing in the area.

2000, October 13 -- the park becomes a reality with a sale price of $17.3 million dollars. The Town of East Hampton will operate the park and The Nature Conservancy will manage the conservation side.

The name Shadmoor is a combination name that comes from the presence of a "moorland" and the shrub shadbush in the park.

Habitats:

There are several small pools hidden in the massive thickets. 70 foot high clay bluffs.

Trails:

9/16/02 -- There are a lot of paths here that go in various directions, like a maze. We just kept taking paths that looked like they went down to the beach and, passing one of the old coastal bunkers, successfully solved the maze puzzle to get to the beach. It was a rainy and windy day when we were there. The tall clay cliffs overlooked a rough sea. Much of the vegetation was small and prostate, hugging the ground against the winds.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney and Judith M. Fitzgerald, 9/16/02

Trees:
Crataegus sp. (hawthorn)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)

Shrubs:
Amelanchier sp. (coastal shadbush)?
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (bearberry)
Aronia sp. (black chokeberry)?
Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepper bush)
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive)
Lyonia mariana (staggerbush)
Myrica pensylvanica (bayberry)
Rhododendron periclymenoides (pink azalea)
Rhus copallina (winged sumac)
Rosa virginiana (Virginia rose)
Rubus sp. (dewberry)
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Viburnum dentatum (arrowwood viburnum)

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle) *
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy) *
Vitis aestivalis (summer grape)

Herbs:
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow) *
Agalinis purpurea (purple gerardia) *
Agalinis sp. (sandplain gerardia)
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed) *
Aster spp. (those small little asters)*
Aster linariifolius (stiff aster) *
Baptisia tinctoria (yellow wild indigo)
Chrysopsis mariana (Maryland golden aster) *
Conyza canadensis (horseweed)
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace) *
Eupatorium hyssopifolium (hyssop-leaved thoroughwort ) * waning
Euphorbia maculata? (spotted spurge)?
Euthamia graminifolia (grass-leaved goldenrod) *
Euthamia tenuifolia (narrow-leaved goldenrod) *
Fragaria virginiana (strawberry)
Gnaphalium obtusifolium (sweet everlasting)*
Hypericum gentianoides (orangegrass) *
Hypochaeris radicata (cat's ear) *
Lepidium virginicum (poor man's pepper) *
Liatris scariosa (northern blazing star) *
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain)
Polygonum pensylvanicum (Pennsylvania smartweed) *
Prenanthes trifoliolata (tall rattlesnake root) *
Pycnanthemum muticum (short-toothed mountain mint)
Solidago juncea (early goldenrod) *
Solidago sempervirens (seaside goldenrod) * near
Trifolium pratense (red clover) *

Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Sedges:
Scirpus cyperinus (woolly grass bulrush)

Grasses:
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Eragrostis spectabilis (purple love grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Panicum virgatum (switch grass)
Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem grass)