Wildflower Watch at Dean Farm
The wildflowers will soon be out at Dean Hill Farm in Stony Creek.
Whether you prefer the colors of vividly dying leaves in autumn or the placid pastels of wildflowers in spring, the vistas you'll find at the Dean Farm Heritage Trail are among the most rewarding you'll find anywhere in the southern Adirondacks.
This is a 271-acre parcel with a 30-acre field that gives you an alpine sense of being in Switzerland. Stony Creek runs through it, and a sturdy boardwalk takes you right to the creek’s edge. The 1.1-mile crushed-stone path is so smooth it's wheelchair accessible. You'll find another four miles of trails winding through woods on the east side of Murray Road, which divides the property.
To view this trail guide, click to enlarge or go to the Warren County Recreation Mapper.
This is the result of a community effort that started in 2005 when David and Edyth Haskell donated the property to the SUNY College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry Foundation. In 2008, an ESF graduate student, Katy Johnson, produced a design for the site that Warren County Planner Wayne LaMothe agreed deserved First Wilderness funding.
Their first funding application was successful, as were four more that have followed in subsequent years. Thus far, the New York Department of State has contributed $577,600 to the project through its Local Waterfront initiative, just about half the total $1.1 million that's been spent on the project.
The property was acquired by John Dean in 1812, who in 1852 passed it on to his children. They continued to operate a thriving agricultural enterprise that included such crops as oats, buckwheat, Indian corn, beans, and hay, and such animals as horses, cows, bulls, oxen, swine, and sheep. The farm also produced apples from two orchards, plus maple syrup, beeswax, and wool.
The deed the Haskells gave the ESF Foundation specifies that the property maintain its historic character while supporting scientific forest management. It requires that the field be mowed annually in perpetuity, thereby ensuring that future generations will enjoy its unobstructed views.
Wildflowers will start appearing any day now. We'll give you a heads up when they reach full force.
