Altschul Preserve
Stamford, Connecticut
163 acres

Source: Cooley, #1

Directions:

Take exit 34 off the Merritt Parkway and go north on Route 104; drive 2.3 miles and then turn left (through two stone pillars) on Sawmill Road; drive 0.7 miles and turn left on Dundee Road; drive 0.5 of a mile to the preserve and park by the side of the road.

Geology:

The Mianus River drains the uplands of Stamford and Greenwich. Part of the trail lies between cliffs of granite gneiss and to the south of the trail an overhang forms caves.

History:

Helen G. Altschul donated the land to The Nature Conservancy in 1975 and 1977.John J. McCloy in 1977 also donated land to the preserve.

Habitats:

Mature oak forest and East Branch of the Mianus River; wetlands; floodplain forest

Trails:

A 1.5 mile walk. Head west away from the road. Then take a circular walk by hiking southwest to a bridge crossing the East Branch of the Mianus River. (Take a slight detour to a filled-in lake and return.) Back to the bridge head slightly northeast and then fully northeast and finally southeast back to the junction with the starting point of the circular walk. Then head east back to the parking area.

PLANT LIST:

Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Populus sp. (aspen)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Rhus sp. (sumac)

Shrubs:
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Kalmia latifolia (mountain laurel)
Lindera benzoin (spice bush)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Smilax sp. (greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (greenbrier)

Herbs:
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)

Sedges
Carex stricta (tussock sedge)

Ferns:
Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hay-scented fern)

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