Great Baehre Swamp
Great Baehre Swamp is a New York state wetland located inside the Town of Amherst in Erie County, New York, USA. The conservation area is characterized as a Silver Maple-Ash swamp of 270 acres (1.1 km2).
Billy Wilson Park provides boardwalks and trails for viewing nature within Amherst, which is a fairly well-developed suburb of Buffalo. Secondarily, it is hoped that the wetlands help control flooding.
This park has been adapted to provide assistance to people with disabilities.
Prehistory and history
The wetlands are a minute remnant of the former Glacial Lake Tonawanda that dominated this region 11,000 years ago.
Hopkins Road was originally constructed as a corduroy road in the early 19th Century due to the boggy nature of the soil.
Geography
The entrance to Margaret Louise Park is located on Hopkins Road north of the intersection with Klein Road in Amherst. The Great Baehre Swamp is enhanced by having the 48-acre (19 ha) Margaret Louise town park at its west boundary as well as 2 conservation areas comprising 139 acres (56 ha) owned by New York State and the Town of Amherst. Portions of the southern and eastern boundary of the conservation area are privately owned and permission should be sought prior to visiting these areas.
See also
- Tillman Road Wildlife Management Area, A state conservation area a several miles east of Great Baehre Swamp.
- Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve, A state conservation area southeast of Great Baehre Swamp.
- Hampton Brook Woods, A partially developed conservation area in the Town of Hamburg