Over the break, I did a lot of hiking with my sister and dog. There are many local preserves and hiking trails that we frequent, so my phenology spot this time was really made up of two seperate places: Glazier Preserve, and Burden Preserve. They’re both a part of the Town of New Castle Recreation and Parks Department. The first of these two locations, Burden Preserve, is less like Centennial woods, in that it is pretty much entirely unmanaged. The understory has been taken over by Barberry, and it is past the point where managing the land would be worth the effort.
Glazier preserve is much more favored by the town. Its landscape is far more suitable to nice hiking trails that people will frequent more often, and the trails and plantlife are more actively managed by the town. I’d say this location is much similar to Centennial Woods because it is frequented by locals more as a place to take your dog, or just go on a nice walk through the woods. Also, with its meandering hills and valleys, the landscape is also more similar to that of Centennial. Ecologically, it’s pretty similar too. Westchester, New York is only about a 4 hour drive from vermont, and the makeup of the forest is similar because of how close they are in the grand scheme of things. The one thing I would say is that these New York forests are much rockier. There are hills completely covered in massive boulders that stick out of the ground, which I haven’t seen nearly as much of near my phenology spot.
