Shenantaha Creek Park is located in the town of Malta, in Saratoga County, New York.
Malta is a town in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The town is in the central part of the county and is south of Saratoga Springs. The population was 14,765 as of the 2010 census.
Saratoga County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2017 U.S. Census estimate, the county's population was 229,869, representing a 4.7% increase from the 2010 population of 219,607, representing one of the fastest growth rates in the northeastern United States and the fastest-growing county in Upstate New York. The county seat is Ballston Spa. Saratoga County is included in the Capital District, encompassing the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area.
In 1993, the Malta Town Board commissioned the Ruhle Road Park Committee to plan a park on 56.1 acres of land along the Ballston Creek and an abandoned railroad track. The land wasn't accessible to vehicles, so the Town purchased an additional 5.29 acres for access and egress of the park in 1995.
Ballston Creek, also called Shenantaha Creek from the Iroquios name for Ballston Lake, is a stream in Saratoga County, New York. It originates at the north end of Ballston Lake and runs approximately six miles (9.7 km) through the towns of Ballston and Malta, descending 100 feet before exiting into Round Lake.
The park opened in 1997. A portion of the Zim Smith Trail runs through the park allowing hiking, bicycling, rollerblading, horseback riding, and snowmobiling. The forest includes oak, maple, pine, and hemlock trees. There is a moraine where it has been said that bowls in rocks were used as mortars for grinding food by Native Americans, although some speculate they result from glacial scouring.
The Zim Smith Trail is the main multi-use trail of a network of trails in Saratoga County, New York. Extending nine miles, it connects the towns of Halfmoon, Clifton Park, Round Lake Village, Malta and Ballston Spa. It is the only trail in New York state to be designated a national recreation trail by the U.S. Department of Interior and National Park Service.
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 600 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus, as well as in those of unrelated species such as Grevillea robusta and the Casuarinaceae (she-oaks). The genus Quercus is native to the Northern Hemisphere, and includes deciduous and evergreen species extending from cool temperate to tropical latitudes in the Americas, Asia, Europe, and North Africa. North America contains the largest number of oak species, with approximately 90 occurring in the United States, while Mexico has 160 species of which 109 are endemic. The second greatest center of oak diversity is China, which contains approximately 100 species.
Acer is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maple. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae. There are approximately 128 species, most of which are native to Asia, with a number also appearing in Europe, northern Africa, and North America. Only one species, Acer laurinum, extends to the Southern Hemisphere. The type species of the genus is the sycamore maple, Acer pseudoplatanus, the most common maple species in Europe. The maples have easily recognizable palmate leaves and distinctive winged fruits. The closest relatives of the maples are the horse chestnuts.
In the park there are remains of a mill that pressed flax seed oil. [1]
