Mendon Ponds Park | |
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Devil's Bathtub, Mendon Ponds Park.
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Location of Mendon Ponds Park within New York State
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Type | Regional park |
Location | Towns of Pittsford and Mendon, Monroe County, New York |
Nearest city | Rochester |
Coordinates | 43°00′56″N 77°33′50″W / 43.01556°N 77.56389°WCoordinates: 43°00′56″N 77°33′50″W / 43.01556°N 77.56389°W |
Area | 2,500 acres (10 km2) |
Operated by | Monroe County Parks Department |
Open | All year |
Designated | 1967 |
Mendon Ponds Park is a county park located southeast of Rochester, New York within the suburban towns of Mendon and Pittsford. At over 2,500 acres (10 km2), it is the largest park in Monroe County. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1967 in recognition of its unique glacial geology.
Mendon Ponds contains a number of unique glacially created land structures, including a kettle hole known as the "Devil's Bathtub", eskers, a floating sphagnum moss peat bog, and kames.
At the northernwestern end of the line of other glacial ponds and lakes near the "Devil's Bathtub", there is a sphagnum moss peat bog, where the build-up of moss has created a floating island in the middle of the lake. Due to the acidity buildup and lack of decay caused by the sphagnum moss, the bog is home to a number of carnivorous plants, including sundew and pitcher plants.
Mendon Ponds is known locally as a birdwatching destination. Birds present in the wetland areas include wood duck, red-winged blackbird, blue heron, Canada goose, Virginia rail, sora, least and American bittern, and American coot. Passerine birds of the park are typified by eastern bluebird, scarlet tanager, tyrant flycatchers, vireo, chickadees, and nuthatches. In winter, the park's chickadees take seed from patient visitors' hands.