Painter Hill State Multiple Use Area
Mamakating, just west of Spring Glen, Sullivan County, New York
107 acres (it says 64 acres on the parking lot sign)

Directions:

From New York City area:  Henry Hudson Parkway to Saw Mill River Parkway to exit 20 for US 87 west crossing over the Tappan Zee Bridge; take exit 16 for Route 17 (the future US 86) west; take exit 113 (near the highway marker for 350 miles) for Route 209; turn right onto Route 209 north; drive 8.6 miles and turn left (0.1 of a mile into Ulster County and just before the sign for the Town of Warwasing) and then a quick right onto Phillipsport Road; drive 3.6 miles (keep going straight from Phillipsport Road onto Mountaindale Road) and turn right onto Aldrich Road; drive 1.5 miles and turn right onto Painter Hill Road; drive less than one block and turn left into the parking area.   

(If on Mountaindale Road you reach Tomsco Falls, with the falls on the left, you have gone way too far.)

 Trails:

There are no trails in this Multiple Use Area.

10/04/04. From the parking area, my son Carl and I walked northeast on an informal trail; the trail ended after a short walk; then we turned left to start our bushwhacking; for a short distance, we traveled through an area filled with beech trees. We then decided to work our way downhill on the right; we traveled east downhill to a wet area and found ourselves in a hemlock forest. We next came to a stream. From here we could see a pond into which the stream flowed. We walked along the left side of the very shallow pond. Walking to the end of the pond we found a concrete dam with a break through which the water flowed. Our next move was to turn around and visit the right side of the pond. We got a better view of the pond, dam and the stream and marsh below the dam from this side. Next, for a short distance, we investigated the wet meadow, the marsh and the stream downhill.

Our next move was south up an old road. It was a short walk that came out onto Painter Hill Road. We walked along the road and then decided to investigate that part of the Multiple Use Area on the side of the road opposite the parking area. We bushwhacked into the area and found it a lot drier than the land on the other side of the road. There was a great deal of mountain laurel. Decided to turn around and head back via climbing up the small hill on the right. It was tough going as we had to push through a lot of mountain laurel. When we came to the road we turned left and started to return to the car. After walking a half mile or so, we realized we were going the wrong way. We figured out that we must have come out not onto Painter Hill Road, but onto Aldrich Road. So we turned around and walked up Aldrich Road to Painter Hill Road, made the right turn onto Painter Hill Road and walked back to the parking area.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
date = date plant found in bloom, 10/04/04

Trees:
Acer pensylvanicum (striped maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Amelanchier arborea (shadbush)
Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Carya sp. (hickory)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Populus tremuloides (quaking aspen)
Pyrus sp. (crab apple)
Quercus prinus (chestnut oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)

Shrubs and sub-shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Berberis vulgaris (European barberry)
Comptonia peregrina (sweet fern)
Gaultheria procumbens (checkerberry, teaberry)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel) 10/04/04
Ilex verticillata (winterberry)
Kalmia latifolia (mountain laurel)
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Rhododendron maximum (rosebay rhododendron)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry))
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Spiraea alba var. latifolia (meadowsweet)
Spiraea tomentosa (steeplebush)
Vaccinium angustifolium (low bush blueberry)
Vaccinium corymbosum (tall blueberry)
Vaccinium myrtilloides (sour-top blueberry) ?
Viburnum dentatum (arrowwood viburnum)

Vines:
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)

Herbs:
Acalypha sp. (three-seeded mercury)
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed)
Arctium sp. (burdock)
Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed)
Aster acuminatus (sharp-leaved aster)
Aster divaricatus (white wood aster) 10/04/04
Aster novi-belgii (New York aster) 10/04/04
Aster spp. (asters) 10/04/04 lots of species
Barbarea vulgaris (common wintercress)
Bidens sp. (beggar ticks)
Centaurea sp. (hybrid knapweed) 10/04/04
Chenopodium album (pigweed)
Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (ox-eye daisy) 10/04/04
Cirsium sp. (thistle)
Conyza canadensis (horseweed)
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace) 10/04/04
Dianthus armeria (Deptford pink) 10/04/04
Elodea sp. (water weed)
Epifagus virginiana (beech drops)
Epilobium coloratum (purple-leaved willowherb) 10/04/04
Erechtites hieraciifolia (pileweed)
Euthamia graminifolia (grass-leaved goldenrod)
Fragaria virginiana (wild strawberry)
Galium mollugo (wild madder) 10/04/04
Gnaphalium obtusifolium (sweet everlasting) 10/04/04
Goodyera pubescens (downy rattlesnake plantain)
Hydrocotyle umbellata (American pennywort)
Impatiens sp. (jewelweed)
Lactuca biennis (wild lettuce)
Lepidium virginicum (poor man's pepper)
Linaria vulgaris (butter and eggs) 10/04/04
Lobelia inflata (Indian tobacco)
Lycopus sp. (water-horehound)
Maianthemum canadense (Canada mayflower)
Monotropa uniflora (Indian pipe)
Pilea pumila (clearweed)
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonum hydropiperoides (mild water pepper) 10/04/04
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed) 10/04/04
Polygonum sagittatum (arrow-leaved tearthumb)
Potentilla canadensis (dwarf cinquefoil)
Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil)
Prunella vulgaris (self-heal) 10/04/04
Ranunculus acris (tall buttercup) 10/04/04
Rudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima (black-eyed Susan) 10/04/04
Rumex obtusifolius (broad dock)
Satureja vulgaris (wild basil) 10/04/04
Scutellaria lateriflora (mad-dog skullcap)
Smilacina racemosa (false Solomon's seal)
Solidago bicolor (silverrod) 10/04/04 waning
Solidago gigantea (late goldenrod) 10/04/04
Solidago rugosa (rough-stemmed goldenrod) 10/04/04
Sparganium sp. (burreed)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion)
Tiarella cordifolia (foamflower)
Trientalis borealis (starflower)
Trifolium pratense (red clover) 10/04/04
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein)
Veronica officinalis (common speedwell)
Viola rotundifolia (round-leaved violet)

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

Sedges:
Carex crinita (fringed sedge)
Carex lurida (sallow sedge)
Carex vulpinoidea (fox sedge)
Cyperus sp. (nut or umbrella sedge)
Scirpus cyperinus (woolly grass bulrush)

Grasses:
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Elytrigia repens (quack grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer tongue grass)
Phleum pratense (Timothy grass)
Setaria glauca (yellow foxtail grass)

Ferns and fern allies:
Lycopodium clavatum (running pine)
Lycopodium lucidulum (shining clubmoss)
Lycopodium obscurum (ground pine)
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hay-scented fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Pteridium aquilinum (bracken fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)

Other:
Sphagnum sp. (sphagnum moss)