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| Kestrels, small falcons that are rare in Westchester, can be found at Pine Croft Meadow. |
Pine Croft Meadow
9 acres
Mead Street, Waccabuc
Located on the west side of the street, about a mile north of Route 35
Park on the left side of the preserve's driveway
Google Maps Directions
Trail map
Species List
Pine Croft is a gently sloping, open meadow full of native grasses, wildflowers, rushes, sedges, and an occasional shrub. The trail is a simple path that runs along the driveway into the preserve, crossing a small bridge over a stream and then following a mowed path through the meadow.
Various goldenrods, in particular, are abundant in late summer and fall. The preserve attracts thousands of insects, from beetles, wasps, and bees to moths, dragonflies, and butterflies - monarchs, tiger swallowtails, and orange fritillaries, among others.
Rodent tunnels can be found weaving in and out of the dense meadow vegetation and raptors can be spotted overhead dining on those small mammals. American kestrels - small falcons - can often be found hunting in and around Pine Croft. The preserve is also a good place to observe songbirds.
The preserve is one of a number of actively-managed meadows in the Eastern Westchester Biotic Corridor, a 22,000-acre section of Lewisboro, Pound Ridge and North Salem with unusually high biodiversity values.
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| The trail and bridge at Pine Croft |
As with the Burke Preserve in Bedford, the meadow habitat of Pine Croft is maintained by mowing, at the most, once a year, in fall. Mowing in the fall allows for regeneration of the meadow in the spring and summer, providing food sources for the many butterflies and other insects throughout the season and allowing wildflowers and grasses to set seed.
Pine Croft Meadow Preserve was donated in memory of Emory Katzenbach, by his family.