Goose Creek Valley Greenway Preserve
Nearly 1,000 feet of Goose Creek meander through the Goose Creek Valley Greenway Preserve. With remnants of trails surrounded by native wildlife, the preserve is a popular site for botanists and birdwatchers.
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Size: 21 acres
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Year Conserved by CWC: 2015
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Address: 1955 Hoag Road, Ashville, NY
Conservation Values: The Goose Creek Valley Greenway Preserve protects 1,000 feet of Goose Creek’s streambank, as well as 3.6 acres of wetlands. The wetlands play and important role in filtering water, and the preserve as a whole acts as a buffer for the creek and downstream Chautauqua Lake from the agricultural uses upstream.
Recreational Use: Rudimentary trails offer ideal access for studying the plants and birds that call the preserve home. A nature immersion platform was constructed near Goose Creek in 2017, creating a great place to relax or watch wildlife.
Location and Parking: The preserve is located about 2 miles west of Chautauqua Lake, extending west of Hoag Road in the town of Busti, near the village of Ashville in Chautauqua County. There is a roadside sign on Hoag Road.
Features of Interest: The majority of the preserve is wooded. It is bisected by Goose Creek running in a north-south direction.
SPECIES OF INTEREST:
Trees: tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera), green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), American elm (Ulmus americana), yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis), shagbark hickory (Carya ovata), big-tooth aspen (Populus grandidentata)
Understory: American hornbeam (C. caroliniana), cucumber tree (Magnolia acuminate)
Shrubs: witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), elderberry (S. canadensis), spicebush (L. benzoin), buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), wild currant (Ribes americanum), pink azalea (Rhododendron periclymenoides)
Wildflowers and other plants: jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum), wild leek (Allium tricoccum), dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria), nodding trillium (Trillium cernuum), white turtle-head (Chelone glabra), blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides), New York fern (Thelypteris noveboracensis), cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea)
Birds: red shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus), black throated green warbler (Setophaga virens), hairy woodpecker (Picoides villosus), white breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)