Staten Island Greenbelt natural areas

VIctoria Blvd., Staten Island Blvd., and Manor Rd, Hylan Blvd, Richmond Ave. and Arthur Kill Rd.

The Staten Island Greenbelt is a flagship park located in the heart of Staten Island, comprised of eight unique properties that are connected by a network of hiking trails and bisected by roads in some locations. Blood Root Valley, Deere Park, High Rock Park, LaTourette Park, Reed's Basket Willow Swamp, Willowbrook Park, Willowbrook Parkway, and the William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge are all considered part of the Greenbelt system. Together they comprise almost 3,000 acres of land dedicated to a range of passive and active recreational activities. Within its boundaries are mature forests, wetlands, lakes, ponds, and streams where one can hike, explore nature, and relax.

Blood Root Valley includes 140 acres of natural areas, featuring streams, red maple swamp forests, and geologic features remaining after the last ice age. It is also home to nearly an acre of the globally rare plant community serpentine grassland. This habitat consists of mostly herbaceous plant species that can thrive in soils that contain naturally high levels of heavy metals as a result of serpentinite bedrock. Several rare plant species can be found in Blood Root Valley including green milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora) and globe flatsedge (Cyperus echinatus). Many bird species use the park for nesting and foraging, including the pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus).

Deere Park also includes evidence of glacial movement from the last Ice Age, which ended about 15,000 years ago. The variety of soils deposited during the glacier’s passage allowed a diversity of plant and animal species to inhabit the region. Today, these areas function as resting places for migratory birds. A thick oak forest dominates the property, with an undergrowth speckled by azaleas (Rhododendron spp.) and wild blueberries (Vaccinum spp.).

Often referred to as one of the most tranquil places in New York City, High Rock Park is noted for its quiet ponds and deep woods. The variety of habitats, including forests, meadows, and freshwater wetlands supports a diverse array of plants and wildlife. Dense forests of red maple (Acer rubrum), American beech (Fagus grandifolia), oaks (Quercus spp.), and hickory (Carya spp.) provide deep shade that is punctuated in the spring by the abundant pink flowers of pinxter azalea (Rhododendron periclymenoides) is abundant. Visitors can also view a rare grove of persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), a tree more common to the South.

LaTourette Park, like much of the surrounding area, was once the farm property of David (1786-1864) and Ann (1794-1862) LaTourette. Near the Rockland Avenue and Brielle Avenue intersection are the serpentine uplands of Heyerdahl Hill. In the northeastern section of LaTourette Park is Bucks Hollow, which has habitat for the tiny spring peeper frog (Pseudacris crucifer), and the gray tree frog (Hyla veriscolor).

Reed's Basket Willow Swamp Park is a steep wooded site that was once headwaters to the New Creek, before the creek in the park was directed into pipe and covered. The highest elevations of the Park slope down to a swamp dominated by common reed (Phragmites australis) that outcompetes native marsh plants in the wetland. In 1978, Reed's Basket Willow Swamp was designated as a protected freshwater wetland by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, ensuring its preservation under state law. The swamp, and its associated springs and creek, provide breeding habitat for dusky (Desmognathus fuscus) and northern red salamanders (Pseudotriton ruber), both rare on Staten Island and elsewhere in the city.

Willowbrook Park and Parkway include ecosystems such as red maple-sweetgum forest, forested wetlands, and coastal oak hickory forest. Undisturbed areas have mid-late succesional tree species, with minimal understory shrubs and herbaceous species due to heavy deer browse. There was a farm in this area historically, with the abandoned farm areas consisting of open canopy areas and rock dumps. Willowbrook Parkway represents a never-built vehicular thoroughfare that now weaves a nature trail through two neighborhoods.

The William T. Davis Wildlife refuge was the first designated wildlife preserve in New York. In 1928, William T. Davis (a renowned naturalist and entomologist) and the Audubon Society successfully secured 52 acres as a wildlife and bird sanctuary. Over time, the refuge property was transferred to Parks and parcels were acquired – today it is over 400 acres in size. The refuge is remarkably diverse, containing broad expanses of salt meadow fringed by low marsh, forested uplands, rock outcrops, a swamp forest, and small, spring-fed ponds. The variety of habitat is reflected by abundant birdlife.