Hemlock Brook

Hemlock Brook Preserve

14 acres
Baptist Church Road, Yorktown
Look for the green preserve sign on the south side of the road, not far from Baldwin Road.
Park on the road near the entrance
Trail map
Click here for directions via Google Maps

This 14-acre preserve was donated by Walter P. Lewisohn in 1971 to The Nature Conservancy. In 2003, The Nature Conservancy transferred the preserve to Westchester Land Trust.

The preserve contains a deep, hemlock-lined ravine. A small streamflows through the ravine and is surrounded by a mixed hardwood forest. Great-horned owls have been observed on the preserve.

An old stone fireplace and wooden bench can be found in the middle of the preserve, near the brook. A pool of water forms at the back of the preserve, near a stone dam.

Although small, Hemlock Brook Preserve is unusually beautiful. With the brook itself slicing through the hemlock ravine, it feels more like the Adirondacks than the lower Hudson Valley. The preserve is only half a mile from the Croton Reservoir and helps protect water quality in the reservoir.

In June 2010, two dozen volunteers from Swiss Re, in Armonk, joined our staff on a beautiful day to create a new trail that loops through the preserve. Hemlock Brook is now the ninth of our preserves to have trails for the public.