TWIN HILL PRESERVE
Patterson, Putnam County, NY
33 acres

Directions:

Saw Mill River Parkway north to US 684 north; the latter runs into Route 22;  turn left onto Route 312; drive 2.8 miles and turn right onto Farm to Market Road; drive 1.1 miles and turn left onto a dirt road alongside pond (between house numbers #254 and 253). Continue over bridge and preserve is on the left by a stone chamber. (It is located just 0.4 of a mile past the William Clough Preserve.)

Geology:

This preserve completes the protection of the unnamed stream and wetland which flows northwesterly into the Ice Pond. Ice Pond, then drains into the main body of the Great Swamp via Muddy Brook.

History:

1996  -- Muriel and David Tischler donate the land to the Putnam County Land Trust. The preserve adjoins the Town of Patterson's Clough Preserve.

Habitats:

scrub shrub, marsh, red maple and upland mixed hardwoods overlooking Ice Pond.

Trails:

7/12/02 The trails are somewhat overgrown and they hook up with other informal trails where there is evidence of a lot of mountain biking activity. Head west on a woods trail with a cliff on the right, houses not too far off on the left. Bear right and meet the junction of the marsh trail and the ridge trail. Take the marsh trail (very overgrown) northwest, north, northwest along the marsh shared with the William Clough Preserve. Reach a power cut where the marsh trail intersects with the ridge trail again. Head uphill through a hemlock forest on an informal woods trail. If you bushwhack along the marsh shoreline you come to the railroad tracks that also go past the William Clough Preserve. Ice Pond is on the other side of the tracks. A short walk down the tracks and you come to the paths of the William Clough Preserve. Returning I took the ridge path which is also not well maintained, but not as overgrown as the marsh trail.

4/22/04.  When coming back from Ice Pond, I took the upper trail and found myself going off on a wide trail that may have been created by off-road vehicle drivers.  It goes south for a ways and then turns left to go up to the power cut; turn left and find the upper trail and turn right onto it to finish the round trip. 

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney, 7/12/02 (* = date plant found in bloom); date = date found in bloom, 4/22/04

Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple) 4/22/04
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Amelanchier arborea (shadbush) 4/22/04
Betula lenta (black birch)
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Carya tomentosa (mockernut hickory)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus pensylvanica (green ash)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Populus deltoides (cottonwood)
Populus grandidentata (big-toothed aspen)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Pyrus sp. (crab apple)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus prinus (chestnut oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)

Shrubs:
Alnus serrulata (smooth alder)
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Cephalanthus occidentalis (buttonbush) *
Chimaphila maculata (striped wintergreen) *
Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepperbush)
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Cornus racemosa (gray dogwood)
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Hypericum punctatum (spotted St. Johnswort) *
Ilex verticillata (winterberry)
Kalmia latifolia (mountain laurel)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush) 4/22/04
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Lyonia ligustrina (maleberry)
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Quercus ilicifolia (bear oak)
Rhododendron viscosum (swamp azalea) *
Rhus glabra (smooth sumac)
Rosa palustris (swamp rose) *
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus sp. (dewberry)?
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Spiraea alba var. latifolia (meadowsweet) * soon
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Vaccinium pallidum (hillside blueberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple leaf viburnum)
Viburnum dentatum (smooth arrowwood viburnum)
Viburnum lentago (nannyberry viburnum)

Vines:
Amphicarpaea bracteata (hog peanut)
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Cuscuta sp. (dodder)
Ipomoea sp. (wild potato vine)?
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis spp. (grapes)

Herbs:
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow) *
Agrimonia gryposepala (agrimony) *
Alisma subcordatum (water plantain) *
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Allium tricoccum (wild leek) *
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed)
Apocynum cannabinum (Indian hemp dogbane) *
Arabis glabra (tower mustard)
Aralia nudicaulis (wild sarsaparilla)
Arctium sp. (burdock)
Arisaema triphyllum (Jack in the pulpit)
Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed) *
Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed) *
Chelidonium majus (celandine)
Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (ox-eye daisy) *
Circaea lutetiana (enchanter's nightshade) *
Cirsium arvense (Canada thistle) *
Cirsium vulgare (bull thistle) *
Commelina communis (Asiatic dayflower) *
Corydalis sempervirens (pale corydalis) *
Desmodium canadense (showy tick trefoil) *
Desmodium paniculatum (panicled tick trefoil)
Erigeron annuus (daisy fleabane) *
Eupatorium perfoliatum (boneset)
Euphorbia nutans (upright spurge)
Fragaria sp. (strawberry))
Galium aparine (cleavers)
Galium circaezens (wild licorice)
Galium palustre (marsh bedstraw) *
Geranium maculatum (wild geranium)
Geum canadense (white avens) *
Hedyotis caerulea (bluets) 4/22/04
Helianthus divaricatus (woodland sunflower) *
Hemerocallis fulva (tawny day lily)
Hieracium sp. (hawkweed) *
Impatiens sp. (jewelweed)
Lemna sp. (duckweed)
Leonurus cardiaca (motherwort)
Lepidium virginicum (poor man's pepper)
Linaria vulgaris (butter and eggs) *
Lycopus sp. (bugleweed)
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife) *
Maianthemum canadense (Canada mayflower)
Medeola virginiana (Indian cucumberroot)
Melilotus alba (white sweet clover) *
Mirabilis nyctaginea (heart-leaved umbrellawort)
Monotropa uniflora (Indian pipe)
Myosotis laxa (lesser forget-me-not) *
Nuphar variegata (spatterdock) *
Nymphaea odorata (white water lily) *
Oenothera biennis (common evening primrose)
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel ) *
Paronychia canadensis (forked chickweed)
Peltandra virginica (arrow arum)
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonatum pubescens (hairy true Solomon's seal)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose knotweed) *
Polygonum hydropiper (water pepper)?
Polygonum lapathifolium (nodding smartweed) *
Pontederia cordata (pickerelweed) *
Potentilla canadensis (dward cinquefoil) 4/22/04
Potentilla norvegica (rough cinquefoil) *
Potamogeton sp. (pondweed) * waning
Prunella vulgaris (self-heal)
Pycnanthemum incanus (hoary mountain mint) *
Rorippa palustris (marsh yellow cress) *
Sagittaria latifolia (broad-leaved arrowhead)
Saponaria officinalis (bouncing bet) *
Satureja vulgaris (wild basil) *
Scuttelaria galericulata (marsh skullcap) *
Silene vulgaris (bladder campion)*
Silene alba (white campion)
Smilacina racemosa (false Solomon's seal)
Smilax herbacea (carrion flower)
Solanum carolinense (horse nettle) *
Solidago caesia (blue-stem goldenrod)
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion) 4/22/04
Thalictrum pubescens (tall meadowrue) *
Trillium erectum (red trillium) 4/22/04
Typha latifolia (broad-leaved cattail)
Urtica dioica (stinging nettle) not heart shaped base *
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein) *
Veronica officinalis (common speedwell)
Viola sororia (common blue violet) 4/22/04

Rushes:
Juncus effusus (soft rush)
Juncus tenuis (path rush)
Luzula multiflora (wood rush) 4/22/04

Sedges:
Carex lurida (sedge)
Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge) 4/22/04
Carex sp. (sedge) very plump cylinder, nodding/in marsh
Carex stricta (tussock sedge)
Carex swanii hairy (sedge)
Cyperus lupulinus (flatsedge)
Eleocharis sp. (spikerush)

Grasses:
Anthoxanthum odoratum (sweet vernal grass)
Danthonia spicata (poverty grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer tongue grass)
Panicum sp. (panic grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)
Poa compressa (Canada bluegrass)

Ferns and fern allies:
Equisetum arvense (field horsetail)
Equisetum hyemale (scouring rush)
Lycopodium obscurum (ground pine clubmoss)
Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hay-scented fern)
Dryopteris marginalis (marginal wood fern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Osmunda regalis (royal fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Pteridium aquilinum (bracken fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)
Thelypteris palustris (marsh fern)