Land & Trail
Butler Sanctuary and Merestead County Park
Join Trail System
By Roger Savitt
BRLA seems to defy a kind of physical law of suburban development: The more
Bedford gets pressured by new construction, the more the trails network
seems to grow. A few years ago, new routes were opened west of the Sawmill
Parkway, reclaiming areas that used to be riding territory decades ago.
Later, other trails were constructed at John Jay Homestead.
Now it's happening again. Trail building has come to a part of Bedford south
of Route 172, thanks in part to two large properties - Butler Memorial
Sanctuary and Merestead County Park.
Butler is well known for its many footpaths. The land was donated in 1954 by
Anna R. Butler in memory of her husband, Arthur, to The Nature Conservancy.
Butler is a refuge for plants and wildlife, and while walkers are welcome,
horseback riders have not been permitted.
The prohibition of horses on the footpaths hasn't changed. What has changed
is that BRLA has been allowed to create a new path across one corner of the
preserve that will link horse trails in the area. This route will not
connect to existing paths in Butler. A bridge giving access to the new trail
is also being added. When it's completed by the end of July, the trail will
be perhaps onethird of a mile long.
Matt Levy, stewardship operations coordinator for some 60 properties owned
by The Nature Conservancy, said, "BRLA approached us about putting a trail
in the preserve. When we saw we could do so without any adverse impact, we
were more than happy to help." The Butler land is sandwiched between
Interstate 684, Byram Lake and Chestnut Ridge Road. Over the years, through
donations and land purchases, Butler grew from its original 225 acres to 363
acres. This is a rugged, heavily wooded area that may have once been used to
graze sheep and cows. Perhaps they ate away some underbrush, but that was
years ago and now there's a thick covering of deciduous forest and swamps.
Some high points afford views of the Taconic Mountains and Long Island
Sound.
Adjoining Butler Sanctuary is Merestead County Park at 455 Byram Lake Road.
If this park's name is unfamiliar, there's a good reason. While Butler is 50
years old, Merestead has been open to the public only a few months. The
property was willed to the county by Margaret Sloane Patterson, who died in
2000. She was the daughter of W.& J. Sloane founder William Sloane, a
furniture magnate who created Merestead on a couple of hundred acres in
1906. The name Merestead is derived from a Scottish Gaelic word meaning
"farmlands." During the 20th century, Merestead's holdings were trimmed to a
still-ample 130 acres. Merestead - a National Historic Registered Property -
represents the largest donation ever made to Westchester County. This estate
includes a carriage house, tennis court, flower gardens, pool and 28-room
Georgian-style mansion. Just as importantly, it also boasts wide-open trails
cutting across hilltop fields and through sporadic woodlands. At one point,
a bridge crosses a small stream between Merestead and land to the west. Not
every trail is open to horses, but the ones that are don't lack for scenery.
While Butler is popular with hikers and the bird-watching set, Merestead's
acreage gets few visitors. Caretaker Tom Comito hopes to raise its
popularity. "As with any county park, you want to see the public come to the
property and enjoy it." Comito and others have ambitious plans for the
property. The carriage house is slated to become a visitors' center and the
mansion may become a museum. There also needs to be more parking. Right now,
there's room for only a few cars and it exists only at the carriage house.
However, Comito predicts that the parking lot will never be huge - while
Merestead can use more visitors, it won't do well with expansive crowds.
In its grand plan for land south of Route 172, BRLA foresees a trails
network that crosses not only Butler and Merestead, but ambles through
several other properties as well. They include land belonging to Patricia
Keesee, Stanley and Melinda Jaffe, Stephen and Barbro Kirschenbaum, Lisa and
Tim Ghriskey, Judy and Peter Talbot, and Pam and David Small. Eventually the
trail will come together near Linden Road as a giant loop. At that point,
walkers and riders would cross Route 172 to a path that will join the rest
of the trails network, which seems to get more interesting all the time.
... from BRLA Newsletter: Fall 2004