LAMONT-DOHERTY EARTH OBSERVATION LABORATORY TO SOUTH END OF TALLMAN STATE PARK
Rockland County, NY

Directions:

Park at the parking area at the entrance to Lamont-Doherty Earth Observation Laboratory. This is not easy to do sometimes since a lot of people want to park here and the parking spaces are limited indeed. If no parking here you can go from north to south on the Long Path by parking at the southern end of Tallman State Park and follow the turgois blazes south.

History:

An historical marker outside the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observation Laboratory says:

Skunk Hollow or "the mountain" was a free black community from 1806 to 1905. The first known deed belonged to Jack Earnest from Palisades. 1840 -- William Thompson, African Methodist Episcopal itinerant preacher bought Jack's house, built a church on his land, and became a resident preacher. Over 100 families were here including Brown, Oliver, Sisco, Thompson, William, and many others.

Former estate of Dr. John Torrey (after whom the Torrey Botanical Society in named). He lived here from 1854 to 1865. He was followed by financier Thomas Lamont. In 1953 Lamont's wife left the land to her sons, Corliss and Austin, to maintain the land as a natural area. In 1954 the Audubon Society was named the custodian of the property. In 1969 the land was deeded to the Nature Conservancy. In 1970 the land was leased to Columbia University for research and education. In 1977 the land was finally transferred to Columbia.

Trail:

Long Path, North to South:

parking at south end of Tallman State Park;
walk along Route 9W south;
pass old service station ruins;
pass by Washington Squire Road that if you walked down would take you to Sneden's Landing;
at 135 Route 9W (labeled a private drive) turn left, walk a little ways toward the building, cross the drive and head right into the woods; the trail is on the old bed of the Erie railroad;
trail heads up hill and then downhill to a Phragmites australis marsh (giant reed grass marsh); come out at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observation Laboratory entrance. If you wanted to keep going south follow the turgois blazes into the woods near where the cars are parked in the parking area. The trails heads toward the State Line Lookout.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney

Trees:
Acer palmatum (Japanese maple) planted
Acer platanoides (Norway maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree of heaven)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya sp. (hickory)
Catalpa sp. (catalpa)
Fagus grandifolia (beech tree)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Juglans nigra (black walnut)
Liquidambar styraciflua (sweetgum)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Morus alba (white mulberry)
Paulownia tomentosa (empress tree)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Thuja occidentalis (arbor vitae) planted

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Hibiscus syriacus (rose of Sharon) 8/29/01 planted
Hydrangea sp. (hydrangea) 8/29/01 planted
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Pachysandra (pachysandra)
Rhus typhina (staghorn sumac)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus odoratus (purple flowering raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Sambucus canadensis (common elderberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaf viburnum)
Viburnum dentatum (arrowwood viburnum)
Viburnum prunifolium (blackhaw viburnum)

Vines:
Hedera helix (English ivy) planted
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honey suckle)
Menispermum canadense (moonseed)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Solanum dulcamara (bittersweet nightshade) 8/29/01
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vincetoxicum nigrum (black swallowwort)
Vitis riparia (riverbank grape)

Herbs:
Actaea alba (doll's eyes)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Allium tricoccum (wild leek)
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed) 8/29/01
Ambrosia trifida (giant ragweed) 8/29/01
Arisaema sp. (burdock) 8/29/01
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Chelidonium majus (celandine) 8/29/01
Chenopodium album (lamb's quarter)
Chenopodium ambrosioides (Mexican tea)
Circaea lutetiana (enchanter's nightshade)
Cirsium arvense (Canada thistle)
Commelina communis (Asiatic dayflower) 8/29/01
Conyza canadensis (horseweed) 8/29/01
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace) 8/29/01
Duchesnea indica (Indian strawberry) 8/29/01
Epifagus virginicus (beech drops)
Eupatorium fistulosum (trumpetweed Joe-Pye-weed) 8/29/01 waning
Geranium sibiricum (Siberian geranium) 8/29/01
Geum canadense (white avens)
Hemerocallis fulva (tawny day lily)
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed)
Lepidium virginicum (wild peppergrass)
Linaria vulgaris (butter and eggs) 8/29/01
Lycopus sp. (bugleweed) 8/29/01
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife) 8/29/01
Medicago lupulina (black medick) 8/29/01
Melilotus alba (white sweet clover) 8/29/01
Monotropa uniflora (Indian pipe)
Phlox (garden phlox ) 8/29/01
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed) 8/29/01
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain) 8/29/01
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed) 8/29/01
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed) 8/29/01
Polygonum lapathifolium (nodding smartweed) 8/29/01
Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed)
Prunella vulgaris (self-heal)
Sanguinaria canadensis (bloodroot)
Smilacina racemosa (false Solomon's seal)
Solidago juncea (early goldenrod) 8/29/01
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion) 8/29/01
Trifolium repens (white clover) 8/29/01
Tussilago farfara (coltsfoot)
Urtica dioica var. dioica (stinging nettle)
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein)
Verbena urticifolia (white vervain)
Veronica officinalis (common speedwell)

Rushes:
Juncus effusus (soft rush)

Sedges:
Carex laxiflora (sedge)
Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge)
Cyperus strigosus (umbrella sedge) 8/29/01
Scirpus atrovirens (dark-green bulrush)

Grasses:
Cinna arundinacea (wood reed grass)
Dactylis glomeratus (orchard grass)
Digitaria sanguinalis (hairy crab grass) 8/29/01
Echinochloa crus-galli (barnyard grass)
Eleusine indica (zipper grass)
Glyceria striata (mannagrass)
Leersia alba (white grass) 8/29/01
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Panicum dichotomiflorum (fall panic grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)
Setaria faberi (nodding foxtail grass)
Setaria glauca (yellow foxtail grass)
Tridens flavus (purple top grass)

Ferns:
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)