The preserve borders Yellow Barn State Forest, Hammond Hill State Forest, and the Cornell Old 600 Natural Area, making it an important connector in a larger array of some 8,000 acres of protected lands. The preserve adds another gem to the “Emerald Necklace,” the Finger Lakes Land Trust’s initiative to connect 50,000 acres of public open space around Ithaca, and is the first project linking two blocks of state forest in the necklace.

The primary natural feature of this preserve is Six Mile Creek, which is the drinking water source for the City of Ithaca and a major watercourse in the Cayuga Lake watershed. Approximately 5,350 feet of the creek flows through the preserve (with preserve land on both banks), and another 2,600 feet of stream flows along a boundary of the preserve (preserve land along one bank). The Park Preserve and other adjacent protected lands provide extensive protection to not only to the stream, but also to large areas of upland forest and wetlands along the stream corridor. In the northern section of the Park Preserve, Six Mile Creek meanders through an extensive open wetland complex where there is intermittent beaver activity, and in the southern section of the preserve, the creek drops through a hemlock gorge with cliffs, small waterfalls, and beautiful pools.

The preserve features open wetlands, mixed hardwood forest, wet hemlock woods with sphagnum moss and liverworts, numerous vernal pools, an expansive beaver pond fringed with cattails, and even a heron rookery. The vernal pools provide superb habitat for spotted salamanders and wood frogs.

Preserve Trail

Moderate

Route type: Out and Back

Length: 2.4 miles

South Loop Trail

Moderate

Route type: Loop

Length: 2.1 miles

Preserve Trail

South Loop