Forests and Woodlands

Although the words are often used interchangeably, there is a difference between woodlands and forests.  A forest is thick with trees, the dense canopy allowing little sunlight to trickle through. Woodlands are more open, with trees spaced farther apart allowing more sunlight to reach the ground. Forests often have three distinct layers – an overstory of tall trees, an understory of smaller trees and shrubs, and a groundcover of herbaceous plants. Woodlands generally have thicker underbrush of vines, shrubs, and herbs. Pelham Bay Park is well-known for its nearly 800 acres of forest and woodlands.

Hunter Island has the largest continuous forest, including many of the oldest trees. The native forest in its northern section includes Chestnut Oaks, Hickory, Black Locust, Black Cherry, Black Birch, and Tulip Trees. Two patches of evergreen trees here were planted by the Parks Department in 1918 in a reforestation effort and contain some of the tallest trees on the island.

Surrounding The Meadow at Orchard Beach is a different forest of White Poplar, Pin Oak, Black Cherry, Crab Apple, Sumac, Dogwood, and Bayberry bushes.  Another forest called Wedgewood occupies the northeast corner of the Park, near the border of Westchester County. Rodman’s Neck, known for its active sports fields, is also home to monoculture stands of European alder and white poplar. The area of forest known as Central Woodland – west and north of the Turtle Cove Golf Center – is known for moist woods and swampy tracts with large Sweetgum, Red Maple, and Pin Oak. Large tracts of oak-hickory forest border the greens of the Split Rock Golf Course.

The woodlands in the southern section of Pelham Bay Park are where one of New York City’s “Great Trees” was found – a large white oak measuring 56” in diameter that is estimated to be over 220 years old.  Unfortunately, the “Granny Oak” fell in March of 2017 during a nor’easter. Also in this area, the Huntington Woods, a 41-acre section of the Park once owned by wealthy philanthropist Archer Milton Huntington, has a scattering of mature specimen trees left from the estate that are mixed into a canopy predominant with Black Cherry and Norway Maple and including Hickories, Oaks, Sassafras and Black Walnut.

Much work has been done throughout the park to restore forest and woodland areas severely degraded by invasive species of shrubs and vines. These are removed and then native tree and shrub species appropriate to the specific location are planted. This has been possible thanks to funding from MillionTreesNY and the dedicated work of the Natural Resources Group, the Pelham Bay Park Administration, and numerous volunteers.