DAN'S PAPERS, June 12, 2009 Page 61 www.danshamptons.com
Sports/Outdoors
TAKE
A HIKE
By Ken Kindler
Arshamomaque Preserve
HUNTINGTON ANTIQUES CENTER
is the result of a combination the Department of Public invasive plant eradication and Works crew, provided a great grassland restoration project. spot from which to watch the There’s a sturdy bench nearby, osprey. one of several located along After retracing your steps up the trails. At the next split, the green trail, a left turn conyou can stay on the red trail, tinues the circuit of the red or turn left onto the blue (vertrail, passing through a copse of nal pond) trail. The blue trail swamp cottonwood, considered meets with the red trail a little to be rare in New York State. farther on. The interpretive The next left turn is a short sign at this trail intersection Ken Spadafora walking across a bridge dead-end trail to a bench by the explains that vernal ponds are irrigation pond. A large number in the Arshamomaque Preserve. “small, shallow, fishless waters of blue lupine was in bloom here. that are seasonally flooded, and typically disappear After returning to the trail, it’s about a half-mile by mid- to late summer. These vernal ponds are walk before you pass a trail branching left. This is a important for a wide variety of birds, insects, short access road to a service entrance off Route 48. amphibians, reptiles and mammals that depend on Another 200 yards brings you to the access trail; these ponds for food, water and breeding habitat.” make a left to return to the parking area. Shortly after passing where the two trails come The Arshamomaque Preserve is open to the pubback together, bear left onto the green trail that lic year round from dawn to dusk. The Town has a runs between two freshwater ponds. Two more comprehensive, user-friendly Web site. To download bridges keep you above the freshwater swamp, the trail guide that the Town has produced with the enabling visitors to access the solidly built observaassistance of the Marine Program of the Cornell tion platform. From the platform, I watched several University Cooperative Extension of Suffolk ospreys “ripping” fish out of the pond. These raptors County, visit southoldtown.northfork.net and, were hitting the water, churning it up with wings under trails of North Fork, select “Arshamomaque.” and feet, and mostly flying off wet and empty Jim McMahon, director of the DPW, indicated to taloned. My impression was that they were still perme that he was very impressed with the care and fecting their technique. I was pleasantly surprised respect with which the public has treated this preto see only a few invasive phragmites among the serve. I can attest to this fact; I saw no vandalism or cattails along the edge of this pond. This excellent littering when I walked these trails that the DPW platform designed by Mike Eckhardt, a Public has done such a great job of maintaining. Works maintenance mechanic, and constructed by To find more walks on Long Island, visit litlc.org. Ken Kindler
Many people visit Long Island’s North Fork for the farm stands, nurseries, vineyards and restaurants. For the adventurous visitor, a little exploration will yield a coast of rugged picturesque beauty and a growing number of parks and preserves. Last week I stumbled upon a lovely, relatively new natural gem named Arshamomaque Preserve. This preserve offers its visitors a parking area, 1.3 miles of well maintained trails with benches, and even a well built observation platform provides a spectacular view of two nearby ponds. Opened to the public in 2004, Arshamomaque Preserve is owned by Suffolk County Parks and the Town of Southold. It is part of the Long Island Pine Barrens Maritime Reserve. It was listed for protection because of its exceptional scenic, biological and recreational resources. This 135-acre preserve is blessed with a wide variety of wildflowers, birdlife, and other wildlife, so be sure to bring your camera and binoculars! Not to be confused with the 54-acre Arshamomaque Pond Preserve located west of Arshamomaque Pond, this trailhead is in Greenport on the west side of Chapel Lane. Chapel Lane runs between Route 48 and Route 25, west of where the two roads intersect, and east of the Pond. From the parking area, walk by a kiosk with a large topo map of the preserve, you enter a wide, well-groomed trail, bordered by patches of marsh marigold. Red plastic trail markers on the access trail guide you to the main loop trail, also marked with red rectangles. After crossing a solidly built wood bridge spanning a low point in the wetlands and continuing left onto the red loop trail, there is an interpretive sign explaining that the nearby meadow
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