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| Hikers check out an enormous tree speciment at Old Church Lane. |
31 acres
Park near the preserve entrance on
Trail Map
An impressive shrub wetland -partially-open, partially-wooded wetland - lies alongside the road on calcareous (that is, limestone or marble) soil. Trees are interspersed throughout, and an abundance of berry-producing shrubs makes for excellent habitat for songbirds and other wildlife.
A ridge separates the wetland near the road from an extensive forested wetland system on the east side of the preserve. Large rocks covered in foliose lichens tumble down the ridge, especially on the east slope, creating excellent habitat for snakes and other wildlife. The forested wetland is similar to a red maple swamp with hummocks, tussock sedge, and mosses.
To the north of the forested wetland, you'll find many sassafras in addition to black birch, sugar maple, ironwood, red maple, red oak, chestnut oak, and yellow poplar. Throughout, skunk cabbage, cinnamon fern, royal fern, and sphagnum moss are found in the ground layer, with red maple the dominant tree species and broadleaf spirea the dominant shrub. New York fern and witch-hazel are found at the edges of the wetland.
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| Eli Walkely led a team of high school students in creating the Old Church Lane Preserve trail. |
An intermittent stream runs southwest between two ridges. Streamside and surrounding vegetation consists of mountain laurel, yellow birch, chestnut oak, and American beech. There is a good amount of leaf litter, woody debris, and standing dead trees that can be used as feeding and nesting sites for woodpeckers and other cavity-nesting birds.
In 2005, Westchester Land Trust teamed up with some local high school students, led by Eli Walkely of South Salem, to lay out and construct a scenic hiking trail through the preserve.
The preserve has two trail heads on Old Church Lane, making for an easy loop hike that ends with a walk along the dirt road past the open wetland.
| Attachment | Size |
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| Old Church Lane Finale.JPG | 1.56 MB |
