Bentley's Cave Preserve

Skye van der Laan, Botanist

Saturday, August 9th | 10 am – 4 pm

Bentley’s Cave Preserve is the access point for a karst cave system that has historically been used as a hideout for robbers and Revolutionary War soldiers, a gambling den, and reportedly as a stop on the Underground Railroad. The cave system and preserve are composed of a mixed bag of Taconic aged geology with calcareous and non-calcareous rock making up the landscape. Surrounding the cave is a five acre preserve owned by the Northeast Cave Conservancy with a 95 acre buffer recently purchased by Hudson Taconic Lands. Dr. David Hunt prepared the Management Plan for NECC (for the five acre preserve) and listed 94 vascular plants, 18 non-vascular, and 6 surface communities including Appalachian oak-hickory forest, beech-maple mesic forest, calcareous cliff community, maple-basswood rich mesic forest, spring, and sinkhole. A few county rarities from the list include walking fern, Canada yew, and Tuckerman’s sedge.   No intensive survey work has been done on the new acquisition and additional county-rare plants are likely.

On our field trip we will travel uphill through the preserve for about a mile along old logging roads to the entrance of the caves. Along the way we will pass banks of ferns including glade fern, Goldie’s fern, and silvery spleenwort.  A hybrid wood fern (Dryopteris x neowheherrii has been seen along the trail.   We will explore the cliff faces and outcroppings.  On the return trip we will navigate a new route around the hilltop and attempt to add new species to the list as we descend through the buffer parcel. Features we will pass include a steep, seepy, mossy boulder field, a number of grand old sugar maples, and possibly a spring or two.

Bring good hiking footwear, raingear, plenty of water, lunch and snacks for the hike.  Assume ticks will be present and be prepared to repel them.

We will meet at a location that will be communicated to those who register.  

If you have any questions about the trip before registering, contact cave@nyflora.org.

All NYFA field trips are free and open to all.

NYFA relies on the generous support of its members to offer free Field Trips and Learn 10 workshops. If you are able, please consider a donation to help support these efforts. Suggested Donation is $10.