Arbutus Woods Park is approximately two and a half acres of woodlands in the neighborhood of Huguenot. It is located between Arbutus Avenue and Stecher Street, with the entrance to the park being on Stecher Street. Arbutus Woods Park is
named after the trailing arbutus plant, which used to grow all over Staten Island, especially in this area, prior to 1940. It is now extinct due to the fact that many local residents used the plant as a salad vegetable. The trailing arbutus plant grows low to the ground; it has clusters of small pink/white flowers, trailing woody stems, and oval leaves that are smooth on top and slightly hairy on the bottom.
The park is part of the Arbutus Creek watershed. This watershed was given to the Department of Parks and Recreation in 1994 by the Department of Real Property. The Arbutus Creek watershed is park of Staten Island's bluebelt system and helps prevent flooding around the park and surrounding community. It receives all the runoff storm water and creates a spring-like pond. During the summer these ponds dry up to let the sweet pepperbush and swamp loosestrife grow.
The park was originally planned to be used as a ball field, but due to the water that shifts here, it was not determined by engineers to be suitable place. Even though the park is unusable as a ball field or playground, it still has trails through it for a nice relaxing walk. These trails were first created by the Works Progress Administration to be used a
s sidewalks, but they were never completed either. The park is home to a variety of plants and wildlife, especially the whip-poor-will bird. The park sits just north of Arbutus Lake and the Nicolosi Drive luxury estates.
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