Highwoods State Multiple Use Area

Dutchtown Road, Town of Saugerties, Ulster County, New York

Directions:

US 287 west over the Tappan Zee Bridge; keeping heading north on 285/87 to Exit 19 at Kingston (green mileage marker 91.2);after paying the toll, bear right to get onto Route 28 north; drive 0.3 of a mile and get onto Route 209 north; drive 3.6 miles and take the exit for Route 9W north; drive 4.5 miles and turn left onto Route 32; drive 3.1 miles passing over US 87 and through the village of Mount Marion; turn left onto Dutchtown Road; drive south on Dutchtown Road for 1.1 miles and turn left into the small parking area.

Trails:

From the parking lot there is a trail on the right and one on the left.  My son and I chose the right path.  There are lots of signs saying No Hunting.  A few minutes into the walk, we met a fellow in camouflage cradling a shotgun in his arms.  One doesn't argue with a man with a gun, so we traded pleasantries and went our separate ways.  Came to a fork in the road and chose the right branch, southeast.  This branch did not go far before it came to an end in a blitz of No Trespassing signs. 

Turned around and went back to the original fork.  We then took the left branch of the fork.  We came to another fork in the trail.  We again took the ight branch of the fork.  This branch went farther than the first one we followed, but all of a sudden it just stopped.  We could, however, see a large pond in the distance.  So we went off trail heading down the hill to the pond.  One can walk completely around the pond.  We went around half ways and then took the path on the other side of the pond, still going southeast.   We came to a large area where the path just traverses exposed rock.  Not far from this area we came to a large power-cut for electric lines. 

Turned around and went back the way we came.  Heard shots while we were walking back and figured our gun-totting friend was getting down to business.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney. 

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = plant found in bloom  on day of field trip, September 02, 2004

Trees:
Acer pensylvanicum (goose-foot maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Amelanchier arborea (shadbush)
Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Betula papyrifera (white birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya glabra (pignut hickory)
Carya tomentosa (mockernut hickory)
Castanea dentata (American chestnut)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Ostrya virginiana (Pinus strobus (white pine)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus prinus (chestnut oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock) lots and lots of it

Shrubs and Sub-shrubs:
Chimaphila maculata (striped wintergreen)
Comptonia peregrina (sweet fern)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honey suckle)
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Rhus typhina (staghorn sumac)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Rubus sp. (dewberry)
Spiraea tomentosa (steeplebush)
Vaccinium pallidum (hillside blueberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaf viburnum)

Vines:
Clematis virginiana (virgin's bower)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis aestivalis (summer grape)

Herbs:
Acalypha sp. (three-seeded mercury) *
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)
Actaea alba (doll's eyes)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed) *
Amphicarpaea bracteata (hog peanut) *
Anaphalis margaritacea (pearly everlasting) *
Antennaria sp. (pussytoes)
Apocynum cannabinum (Indian hemp)
Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed)
Aster divaricatus (white wood aster) *
Aster laevis (smooth aster) *
Aster spp. (small white asters) *
Bidens spp. (beggar tick) *
Boehmeria cylindrica (false nettle)
Centaurea maculosa (spotted knapweed) *
Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (ox-eye daisy) *
Cichorium intybus (chicory) *
Cirsium arvense (Canada thistle)
Cirsium vulgaris (bull thistle) *
Conyza canadensis (horseweed) *
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace) *
Dianthus armeria (Deptford pink)
Erechtites hieraciifolia (pileweed)
Erigeron annuus (daisy fleabane) *
Eupatorium maculatum (eastern Joe-Pye weed)  *
Eupatorium rugosum (white snakeroot) *
Euthamia graminifolia (grass-leaved goldenrod) *
Galium aparine (cleavers)
Galium circaezens (wild licorice)
Glechoma hederacea (gill over the ground)
Gnaphalium obtusifolium (sweet everlasting) *
Hedeoma pulegioides (American pennyroyal) *
Helianthus divaricatus (woodland sunflower) *
Hieracium paniculatum (panicled hawkweed) *
Hieracium venosum (rattlesnake hawkweed)
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed) *
Iris sp. (yellow or blue flag)
Lespedeza procumbens (trailing bush clover) *
Linaria vulgaris (butter and eggs) *
Lobelia cardinalis (cardinal flower) *
Lobelia inflata (Indian tobacco)  *
Lycopus sp. (bugleweed) *
Lysimachia nummularia (moneywort)
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife) *
Melilotus alba (white sweet clover) *
Monotropa uniflora (Indian pipe)
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel) *
Paronychia canadensis (forked chickweed)
Penthorum sedoides (ditch stonecrop) *
Polygonum arifolium (halberd-leaved tearthumb) *
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed) *
Polygonum hydropiper (water pepper) *
Polygonum sagittatum (halberd-leaved tearthumb) *
Potentilla canadensis (dwarf cinquefoil)
Prunella vulgaris (self-heal) *
Rumex obtusifolius (broad dock)
Satureja officinalis (wild basil)
Solidago bicolor (silverrod)
Solidago caesia (blue-stem goldenrod)
Solidago puberula (downy goldenrod) *
Solidago rugosa (rough-stemmed goldenrod) *
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion) *
Trifolium pratense (red clover) *
Typha latifolia (broad-leaved cattail)
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein)
Verbena urticifolia (white vervain) *
Veronica officinalis (common speedwell)
Viola palmata (palmate-leaved violet)

Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Sedges:
Carex crinita (fringed sedge)
Carex lupulina (hop sedge)
Dulichium arundinaceum (three-way sedge)
Scirpus atrovirens (dark green bulrush)
Scirpus cyperinus (woolly grass bulrush)

Grasses:
Cinna arundinacea (wood reed grass)
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Digitaria ischaemum (smooth crab grass)
Echinochloa sp. (barnyard grass)
Leersia oryzoides (rice cut grass)
Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Phleum pratense (Timothy grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)
Schizachyrium scoparium (little blue stem)
Setaria faberi (nodding foxtail grass)
Setaria glauca (yellow foxtail grass)
Setaria viridis (grass foxtail grass)

Ferns:
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Botrychium sp. (rattlesnake fern)
Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hay-scented fern)
Dryopteris marginalis (marginal wood fern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Pteridium aquilinum (bracken fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)

Others:
Sphagnum sp. (sphagnum moss)