Sheldrake River Conservation Area
Rockland Avenue, New Rochelle and Mamaroneck, Westchester County, NY
54 acres total (23 acres for Sheldrake River Trails and 30 for the Leatherstocking Trail)

Directions:

Hutchinson Parkway north; get off at exit 21 for Route 125 (Weaver Street); turn right at the stop sign; drive 0.3 of a mile to the stop light; turn left onto Weaver Street; drive 1.7 miles to turn left onto Rockland Avenue; drive 0.3 of a mile to park on Forest Avenue (across from the trail entrances (either west or east of the bridge over East Branch of Sheldrake River).

The Leatherstocking Trail can also be accessed from the streets which intersect the trail, including Pine Brook Boulevard in New Rochelle, and in Mamaroneck, Weaver Street, Winged Foot Drive, Avon Road, Fenimore Road, County Road, Old White Plains Road, and Rock Ridge Road and also from the Sheldrake River Trails.

History:

1926 -- the land for the Leather Stocking Trail was formerly the County bridle trail, while the Sheldrake River Trails were part of a farm. The area was targeted for a future county parkway running from Port Chester to the Bronx, but the construction of the New England Thruway (US 95) made the proposed parkway unnecessary.

County and local groups, such as the Larchmont Garden Club and the League of Women Voters, saved the land for passive recreation.

Habitats:

hardwood forest, riverine areas (east branch of the Sheldrake River), swamp, ponds

Trails:

The Leatherstocking Trail is nearly two miles long in a 200 feet wide swath of land. The trail goes from the southwest in the City of New Rochelle northeast to the Village of Mamaroneck (ending at the southern end of Saxon Woods Park -- part of the Westchester Greenway Trail system).

The Sheldrake River Trails hook up with the Leatherstocking Trail. If you start the walk east of the East Branch of the Sheldrake River, you can take two loop trails, one east of the East Branch of the Sheldrake and the other on the west side of the river, that are connected by a boardwalk area. The eastern loop is composed of the Old Farm Trail, the Eastside Stream Trail and the Woodland Trail. (There is a side trail off the Eastside Stream Trail called the Stone Wall Trail that goes along a stone wall.) The western loop is composed of the Westside Stream Trail, the Geology Trail and part of the Leatherstocking Trail. (A shorter loop trail can be made by taking the Westside Stream Trail to the Hickory Trail and then to the Leatherstocking trail.)

10/28/03.  Walked the two loop trails of the Sheldrake River Trails and then walked southwest to well-trafficked Weaver Street, came back, and walked the short distance to northeast to Winged Foot Drive and then returned to the area entrance.  There are a great many invasive species in the area: winged euonymus is probably the worst, but English ivy and Fortune's euonymus vines are also widespread.   

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney and the sources listed below
* = October 28, 2003

Trees:
Acer platanoides (Norway maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya cordiformis (bitternut hickory)
Carya tomentosa (mockernut hickory)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Crataegus sp. (hawthorn)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Ilex aquifolium (English holly) ?
Liquidambar styraciflua (sweetgum)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Magnolia sp. (magnolia)
Platanus occidentalis
Populus deltoides (cottonwood)
Populus grandidentata (big tooth aspen)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Pyrus sp. (crab apple)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Thuja occidentalis (arbor-vitae)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)
Ulmus americana (American elm)

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepper bush)
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Euonymus sp. (euonymus)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel) *
Juniperus sp. (juniper bush)
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Pachysandra terminalis (pachysandra)
Rhododendron periclymenoides (pinxter flower) ?
Rhodotypos scandens (jetbead)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus flagellaris (northern dewberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Sambucus canadensis (common elderberry)
Staphylea trifolia (bladdernut)
Vaccinium pallidum (hillside blueberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaf viburnum)
Viburnum plicatum (double-file viburnum)
Viburnum sieboldii (Siebold's viburnum)
Vinca minor (periwinkle)

Vines:
Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (porcelain berry)
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Cuscuta sp. (dodder)
Euonymus fortunii (Fortune's euonymus)
Hedera helix (English ivy)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis labrusca (fox grape)

Herbs:
Acalypha sp.
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Allium vineale (field garlic)
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed)
Arisaema triphyllum (Jack-in-the pulpit)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Aster cordifolius (heart-leaved aster) *
Aster divaricatus (white wood aster) * waning
Aster sp. (heath type) *
Caltha palustris (marsh marigold)
Chelidonium majus (celandine)
Circaea lutetiana (enchanter's nightshade)
Dicentra cucullaria (Dutchman's breeches)
Epifagus virginiana (beech drops)
Erythronium americanum (trout lily)
Eupatorium rugosum (white snakeroot) *
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed)
Ludwigia palustris (water purslane)
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel)
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed)
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonatum sp. (true Solomon's seal)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed) *
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed)
Polygonum hydropiperoides (mild water pepper)
Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed)
Rubus obtusifolius (broad dock)
Rudbeckia laciniata (green-headed coneflower)
Sanguinaria canadensis (bloodroot)
Smilacina racemosa (false Solomon's seal)
Solidago caesia (bluestem goldenrod) * waning
Solidago rugosa (rough-leaved goldenrod)
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion)
Thalictrum pubescens (tall meadowrue)
Urtica dioica (stinging nettle)
Verbena urticifolia (white vervain)

Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Sedges:
Carex laxiflora type (loose-flowered sedge type)

Grasses:
Echinochloa crus-galli (barnyard grass)
Poa annua (annual bluegrass)
Setaria glauca (yellow foxtail grass)

Ferns:
Equisetum arvense (field horsetail)
Asplenium platyneuron (ebony spleenwort)
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Athyrium filix-femina f. rubella (red-stiped lady fern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Osmunda regalis (royal fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)

Sources:

The L.I.F.E. Center (Local Involvement for Environment). 1995. Larchmont-Mamaroneck Conservation Areas and Parks.
Conservation Advisory Commission, Town of Mamaroneck. Walk Book: Sheldrake River Trails: A Conservation Area of the Town of Mamaroneck, New York.