Barrack Hill Refuge
Settler's Lane,
Ridgefield, Fairfield County, Connecticut
9 acres
Directions:
At the cul-de-sac at the end of Settler's Lane
Saw Mill River Parkway north to its end at mile marker 29; take the exit for Route 35; at the light, turn right; drive around 11 miles to a T-intersection; turn right onto Main Street; head through the center of town; turn left onto North Salem Road; turn left onto Wooster Heights Road; drive 0.2 of a mile and turn left onto Settler's Lane; park at the circle at the end of the road.
Geology:
Mica, quartz and feldspar fragments can be found around the old Titicus Mica Quarry.
Trails:
An easy, 20 minute walk.
6/25/2005. Dog Sonar and I parked the car at the circle at the end of Settler's Lane. Headed downhill a bit and then across a bridge over a stream. We were following yellow markers; made a left turn heading east; headed over a wet area and turned right, heading south; left again and slightly uphill; the path seems to just suddenly halt near a narrow space between houses.
What the trail does here is make a V-shape; you walk down the left arm of the V to the point; then you have to turn 90 degrees and another 45 degrees to head up the right arm of the V. Walking a short ways on the right arm of the V brought me to the remains of the mining operations on left and right. I headed over to the wetland at the bottom of a rock-cut to check for new plants for the plant list. There was only a little water at this time; and the water was very black.
Returned to the end of the right arm of the V and started to return to my car. I noticed that by the stone wall on the left there was an opening through which the yellow trail travels. I followed this path for a short ways; it just came out on to a road. Turned around and walked all the way back to the car. Short walk. Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.
Sources:
Catalog of Ridgefield Open Spaces: http://www.rosaopenspace.org/catalog/index.html#Blacksmith%20Ridge
PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = plant blooming on date of field trips, 6/25/2005
Trees:
Acer platanoides (Norway maple)Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Carya tomentosa (mockernut hickory)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Shrubs and Subshrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry) --- lots
Chimaphila maculata (striped wintergreen)
Cornus racemosa (gray dogwood) *
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Ilex verticillata (winterberry holly)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Viburnum dentatum (smooth arrowwood viburnum)
Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis aestivalis (summer grape)
Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) *
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed)
Arisaema triphyllum (jack-in-the-pulpit)
Cardamine impatiens (narrow-leaved bittercress)
Galium aparine (cleavers)
Geranium maculatum (wild geranium)
Hydrocotyle americana (marsh pennywort)
Impatiens sp. (touch-me-not)
Lapsana communis (nipplewort) *
Maianthemum canadense (Canada mayflower)
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel) *
Pilea pumila (clearweed)
Polygonatum sp. (true Solomon's seal)
Potentilla canadensis (dwarf cinquefoil)
Ranunculus hispidus var. caricetorium (swamp buttercup)
Ranunculus recurvatus (hooked crowfoot)
Rumex obtusifolius (broad dock)
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)
Sedges:
Carex laxiflora type (loose-flowered type sedge)
Grasses:
Glyceria striata (meadow mannagrass)
Poa annua (annual bluegrass)
Ferns and Fern Allies:
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Dryopteris marginalis (marginal woodfern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern))
Polypodium sp. (rockcap fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)
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