Big Tree Program at New Quarter Park -November 8, 2014
Larry Riddick, member of the Historic Rivers Chapter of Virginia Master Naturalists and the Peninsula Tree Stewards, will lead a Walk and Talk program at New Quarter Park on Saturday, November 8, from 10 a.m. to noon, to discuss Virginia’s Big Tree program. Mr. Riddick, with the assistance of fellow Tree Stewards, will give visitors hands-on opportunities to measure 100+ year old trees in the York County park.
Mr. Riddick became involved in the maintenance of the Big Tree program in order to increase the public’s appreciation for the state’s old and diverse trees. The program database maintains records on the largest trees of many species in Virginia.
One of the state’s largest recorded Yellow Poplar trees is located in New Quarter Park. It was measured and recorded by Mr. Riddick in 2007. The tree is believed to have sprouted soon after the 1862 Battle of Williamsburg. It has grown up near Redoubt 13, an earthwork in the Williamsburg Line that is located on park property. Drawings made of the Williamsburg area around the time of the Civil War battle show that the landscape was largely denuded of trees. New Quarter’s champion tree probably sprouted in the quiet years after the war when the present-day park site was occupied by tenant farmers.
York County’s New Quarter Park is located just off the Colonial Parkway at 1000 Lakeshead Drive. The 545-acre site includes diverse forest and ravine habitats for bird and wildlife watching as well as a disc golf course, trails for hiking and biking, athletic fields and picnic shelters. For more information about New Quarter Park, call York County Parks, Recreation and Tourism at 890-3513 on weekdays or New Quarter Park at 890-5840 on weekends.
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