James Wollsey Community Park
Sherman Avenue, Walden, Orange County, New York

Directions:

US 87 north to the exit for Route 17; drive 3.4 miles on Route 17 north and take the exit for Route 208; head north on Route 208 for about 18 miles or so and turn right onto Route 52 east; soon after passing the Wooster Memorial Grove turn right onto East Avenue; at the T-intersection turn left onto Sherman Avenue that leads directly into the park.   

Or:

Taconic State Parkway north to US 84 west; drive a little more than 24 miles and take the exit for Route 208; head north on Route 208 for about 18 miles or so and turn right onto Route 52 east; soon after passing the Wooster Memorial Grove turn right onto East Avenue; at the T-intersection turn left onto Sherman Avenue that leads directly into the park.   

Geology:

The park has a lake that at its dammed north end flows into Tin Brook.

Facilities:

lake; a beach with life guards; picnic table pavilion; trail.

Trails:

12/08/04.  Brother-in-law Cefe and I walked along the path on the western side of the lake. There is a wooded field between the woods on the far west and the lake's western shore on the east side.  We thought we could walk around the lake but at the northern end at the small dam the path ends.  We did not see any way of getting across the dam or the stream below it.  So we had to turn around and go back the way we came.  We tried to get around the lake on its south end but there is a gate with a sign saying "Village Property. No Trespassing."  Now that is a real shame.  If it's village property then why not make the eastern side of the lake available for walking, at least along the lake's edge.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.

PLANT LIST:

Dr. Patrick L. Cooney, * = blooming on 12/08/2004

Trees:
Acer platanoides (Norway maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Morus alba (white mulberry)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Pinus sp. (thunbergii) ?  (Japanese black pine)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Pyrus sp. (crab apple)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus palustris (pin oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Salix alba var. (weeping willow)

Shrubs and sub-shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Cornus racemosa (gray dogwood)
Lonicera sp. (honeysuckle)
Rhus typhina (staghorn sumac)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)

Vines:
Cuscuta sp. (dodder)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)

Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Aster spp. (aster)
Barbarea vulgaris (common wintercress)
Centaurea maculosa (spotted knapweed)
Cirsium vulgaris (bull thistle)
Daucus carota (Queen Ann's lace)
Epilobium sp. (willow herb)
Geum canadense (white avens)
Glechoma hederacea (gill over the ground)
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife)
Matricaria matricarioides (pineapple weed)
Oenothera biennis (common evening primrose)
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed)
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain)
Plantago major (common plantain)
Solidago spp. (goldenrod)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion) *
Trifolium pratense (red clover)
Typha latifolia (broad-leaved cattail)
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein)
Verbena hastata (blue vervain)
water meal

Rushes:
Juncus effusus (soft rush)

Sedges:
Carex stricta (tussock sedge)
Cyperus sp. (nut or umbrella sedge)

Grasses:
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Eleusine indica (zipper grass)
Phleum pratense (Timothy grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)

Ferns:
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)