Bristol Beach State Park

Emerick Road, Malden-on-Hudson, town of Saugerties, Ulster County, New York

Directions:

Tappan Zee bridge to US 87 north; get off at exit 20 (green mileage marker 100.8 miles) for Saugerties.  Take Route 32 east into the Village of Saugerties.  Turn left onto Route 9W.  Head north past Malden-on-Hudson and north of Route 34 and make a right turn onto Emerick Road (green mileage 51 33) and follow it to its end.  Park.     

Or Saw Mill River Parkway to the Taconic County Parkway north to the exit for Route 199; turn left and follow the road through the Village of Red Hook.  Heading toward Barrytown turn left onto Route 103 (River Road) south.  Turn right onto Route 199 west  heading over the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge spanning the Hudson River.  Get off at the exit for Route 32 heading North.  Route 32 north runs into Route 9W north.  Route 9W heads through the Village of Saugerties and past Malden-on-Hudson.  North of Route 34 make a right turn onto Emerick Road and follow it to its end.  Park. 

History:

19th century  --  on the property there was a clay mine used in brickmaking operations.  There are still some remnants existing.

1990  --  the Scenic Hudson Land Trust Inc. acquired the site, using funding from The Lila Acheson and DeWitt Wallace Fund for the Hudson Highlands.

1997  --  Governor George E. Pataki and Scenic Hudson today announced the transfer of 58 acres of Hudson River shorefront in the Town of Saugerties from Scenic Hudson to New York for the future development of Bristol Beach State Park, then an undeveloped park. Scenic Hudson is selling the land to the state for $480,000, 50 percent of its original cost. The funding came from the 1996 Clean Air/Clean Water Bond Act.

The 58-acre parcel will be added to the 53 acres already making up the existing undeveloped park.

The park is one of the 10 sub-units of the northern Ulster Scenic Area of State Significance.  The units are 1) Evesport; 2) Bristol Beach; 3) Malden-on-Hudson; 4) Saugerties Bluffs; 5) Esopus Creek; 6) Glasco Bluffs; 7) Glasco Uplands; 8) Glasco; 9) Glasco Farmlands; and 10) Turkey Point.

Scenic Hudson and the Open Space Institute have acquired property at Eves Point and the hope is to link it to Bristol Beach.

Habitats:

riverfront, meadows, woodlands, marsh and tidal flats

Trails:

8/27/04.  This was a tough place to find.  We went back and forth on Route 9W trying to find an entrance, but not only was there no entrance, there was not even a sign for the place.  Finally found it by trying the road north of the Beach. It is not a very big place as far as actual access.  The main path leads down to a lookout point by the Hudson River where people fish.  On the left of the path, next to the Hudson River, there is a grass lawn on which people could play a little touch football.

There is a Phragmites marsh but no path to it.  My son and I push-whacked down to the Phragmites at which point it started getting too watery to continue. In doing so, we got tangled in a bit of stinging nettle, never a pleasant experience.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.

Press Release for Governor Pataki, November 18, 1997, "Governor Pataki: Land Sale Sets Stage For New State Park," http://www.state.ny.us/governor/press/nov19_97.html

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney and Torrey Botanical Society (TBS)
* = plant found in bloom  on day of field trip, August 27, 2004

Trees:
Acer negundo (box elder maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree-of-heaven)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya sp. (hickory)
Celtis occidentalis (hackberry)
Crataegus sp. (hawthorn)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Juglans nigra (black walnut)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Morus alba (white mulberry)
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)
Populus alba (white poplar)
Populus grandidentata (big tooth aspen)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus prinus (chestnut oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Rhamnus cathartica (common buckthorn)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Tilia americana (basswood)
Ulmus americana (American elm)

Shrubs and sub-shrubs:
Amorpha fruticosa (false indigo)
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Cornus racemosa (gray dogwood)
Cornus sericea (red-osier dogwood)
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honey suckle)
Physocarpus opulifolius (ninebark)
Rhus typhina (staghorn sumac)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Syringa vulgaris (lilac)

Vines:
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Sicyos angulatus (one-seeded cucumber vine)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vincetoxicum nigrum (black swallowwort)  quite a bit of it
Vitis labrusca (fox grape)
Vitis riparia (riverbank grape)

Herbs:
Agrimonia gryposepala (common agrimony ) *
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Amaranthus retroflexus (green amaranth) *
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed) *
Ambrosia trifida (giant ragweed) *
Amphicarpaea bracteata (hog peanut) *
Antennaria sp. (pussytoes)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Asarum canadense (wild ginger)
Asclepias syriaca (common milk weed)
Aster cordifolius (heart-leaved aster) *
Aster divaricatus (white wood aster) *
Aster novi-belgii (New York aster) *
Centaurea maculosa (spotted knapweed) *
Cichorium intybus (chicory) *
Cirsium discolor (field thistle)
Commelina communis (Asiatic dayflower) *
Conyza canadensis (horseweed) *
Cryptotaenia canadensis (honewort)
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace) *
Epilobium coloratum (purple willow herb) *
Erigeron annuus (daisy fleabane) *
Eupatorium rugosum (white snakeroot) *
Geum canadense (white avens) *
Glechoma hederacea (gill over the ground)
Hackelia virginiana (Virginia stickseed)
Hemerocallis fulva (tawny day lily)
Helianthus sp. (sunflower) *
Hosta sp. (hosta)
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed) *
Impatiens pallida (yellow jewelweed) *
Iris sp. (blue or yellow flag)
Lepidium virginicum (poor man's pepper)
Lespedeza sp. (violacea?) (violet bush clover)  ?  *
Lotus corniculatus (birdfoot trefoil) *
Lycopus sp. (water horehound) *
Lysimachia nummularia (moneywort)
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife) *
Medicago lupulina (black medick) *
Melilotus alba (white sweet clover) *
Mentha arvensis (wild mint) *
Oenothera biennis (common evening primrose) *
Peltandra virginica (arrow arum)
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain)
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed) *
Polygonum hydropiper (water pepper) *
Potentilla recta (rough-fruited cinquefoil)
Prunella vulgaris (self-heal) *
Rudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima (black-eyed Susan) *
Rumex crispus (curled dock)
Satureja officinalis (wild basil) *
Scutellaria lateriflora (mad-dog skullcap) *
Silene latifolia (white campion) *
Smilacina racemosa (false Solomon's seal)
Solidago canadensis var. scabra (tall goldenrod)
Solidago gigantea (late goldenrod) *
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion) *
Thalictrum pubescens (tall meadowrue) 
Trapa natans (water chestnut)
Trifolium pratense (red clover) *
Trifolium repens (white clover) *
Verbena urticifolia (white vervain) *
Viola sp. (violet)

Rushes:
Juncus effusus (soft rush)
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Sedges:
Carex sp. (nut or umbrella sedge)
Eleocharis sp. (spikerush)

Grasses:
Bromus inermis (smooth brome grass)
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Digitaria sp. (crab grass)
Elymus hystrix (bottle-brush grass)
Elytrigia repens (quack grass)
Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)
Setaria glauca (yellow foxtail grass)
Setaria viridis (green foxtail grass)