Hiking Opportunities Provided by the Yorktown Land Trust

John Schroeder's favorite hike trail is at Turkey Mountain. He had been putting trail markers, reflective round plastic disks with different colors for each trail. As part of the Yorktown Parks and Recreation Department for 33 years, Schroeder, now retired, had done maintenance on the Nature Preserve, and continues to be involved.

"As a kid I was always out and exploring," he said.

Schroeder was the founding member of the Yorktown Land Trust, established in 1986 and formed around protecting Turkey Mountain. He said Beryl Harper, director of the Conservation Committee had met with other land trust organizations (such as the North Salem Land Trust and Open Space) and helped the Yorktown Land Trust receive its non-profit tax-deductible organization status.

The Turkey Mountain Nature Preserve, 124 acres, was purchased in 1968, and in 2005 the town added 22 to 23 more acres, Schroeder said. He said the Land Trust is still looking at properties at Turkey Mountain and members are seeing encouraging signs in respect to talks with property owners.

"We don't own properties," Schroeder said. "We are the watch dogs."

The goal of the Yorktown Land Trust is to preserve the open spaces in town. Schroeder said they look at properties which are environmentally important, offer greater biodiversity, and provide a healthier flow of the various animal and plant lives.

"We look for connectivity that helps increase biodiversity," he said.

By using public education and speaking with public officials, the Yorktown Land Trust wants to encourage planning for open space, and encourage residents to enjoy the scenic lands in Yorktown. 

One way they provide residents with information about the beautiful places in town, is through publishing the Yorktown Walk Book, a trail guide to Yorktown. It was first published in 1991 and the newest and third edition, is already available to the public in a number of town locations, including the Yorktown Parks and Recreation Department, the Environmental Conservation Department, the town clerk's office and the John C. Hart Memorial Library. 

Michael Angley did the graphic design for the book. He said he got old maps, used Google search to get an idea of the properties and put together a list of the 20 properties. There are approximately 10,000 copies of the book. The Yorktown Land Trust is asking for a $5 donation. 

The first edition was in black and white and it didn't have feature as many properties, Angley said. It featured seven properties, the second edition was published in 2005 and it featured a dozen properties, and now the third edition features 20 properties.

Yorktown residents have a guide and more hiking opportunities. Such new opportunity was the Danner Family Preserve on Indian Hill Road. The 30-acre property, has hiking trails and was given to the Westchester Land Trust. Another conservation easement held by the WLT is the two Donald J. Trump State Park at Indian Hill and French Hill. Schroeder said he wanted the public to be aware of their existence, and even though there are no formal maps, those properties are available for hiking.

The locations listed in the book are:

1. Teatown Lake Preservation, Spring Valley Road (approximately 1 mile west of the Taconic).

2. Sylvan Glen Park Reserve, Intersection of Morris Lane and Grant Avenues.

3. Turkey Mountain Nature Preserve, Route 118.

4. Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park, Entrance off Taconic State Parkway and on Route 202/35

5. North County Trailway, Lienar corridor following Putnam Railroad line from Kitchawan in Yorktown to Somers at Quaker Church Road, with other access points.

6. Mohansic Golf Course, Baldwin Road.

7. Jeremiah R. Dineen Hunterbrook Linear Park, Hunterbrook Road at Beekman Court and Fox Tail Lane.

8. Kitchawan Preserve, Route 134, east of Taconic Parkway, west of Route 100.

9. Sparkle Lake Granite Springs Road.

10. Briarcliff-Peekskill Trailway, Linear park in the southeast corner of Yorktown, with access at Teatown.

11. John E. Hand Park at Bald Mountain, Blinn Road.

12. Hemlcok Brook Preserve, Baptist Church Road.

13. Yorktown/Taconic Trailway, Access is from Deer Street off Stoney Street or Buckthorn.

14. Hilltop Hanover Farm and Environmental Center, Hanover Road, north of Route 118.

15. Granite Knolls Preserve, Stoney Street.

16. Teatown-Kitchawan Trail, Trail access points from Teatown and Kitchawan.

17. Danner Family Preserve, Indian Hill Road.

18. Donald J. Trump State Park- Indian Hill.

19. Donald J. Trump State Park- French Hill.

20. Taconic Woods/Woodlands, Woodland Drive, Strang Boulevard and Route 132. 

Each location is accompanied by a description, and most have a map and photographs. The "locator map" lists the activities people could do at each property, from ice skating, to fishing, and hiking. 

If you are looking for more trails, just in the beginning of the month, Westchester County opened a new trail. The Teatown-Kitchawan Trail is a 6.5-mile trail that begins at the county's Kitchawan Preserve in the town of Yorktown in the east and ends at Teatown Lake Reservation to the west.

The trail begins at the North County Trailway near Route 134 and makes its way west across Kitchawan near Route 134. When it reaches Arcady Road it crosses onto Department of Environment Protection land. The trail then follows Croton Lake Road, and then passing under the north and south lanes of the Taconic State Parkway. Once under the parkway, the trail returns to DEP lands and goes over Bald Mountain passing through beautiful views of the Croton Reservoir.

On October 20, the town of Yorktown and the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference will officially open a new section of trail in the Sylvan Glen Nature Preserve. 

The Yorktown Land Trust is a non-profit tax-exempt organization, which has a volunteer board of directors. Their mission is to promote the preservation and protection of open spaces in the Town of Yorktown and vicinity. They also work in partnership with the Westchester Land Trust, whose goals are to protect land in partnership with private property owners, help communities create new parks and preserves, foster sound land use planning rules. Since the YLT was founded, they have protected 5,000 acres in partnership with private landowners, combined. 

Anyone can send tax-deductible contributions to: Yorktown Land Trust, P.O. Box 1166, Yorkown Heights, NY 10598