Brett Woods Conservation Area
Fairfield, Fairfield County, CT
186.1 acres

Directions:

I-287 to Merritt Parkway north to exit 42; left turn onto Weston Road (Route 57 south); left turn onto Route 136 north. Turn right onto Treasure Road (about 3.1 miles from the exit off the Merritt Parkway); turn left onto Gilbert Highway; turn right onto North Street and park at the dead-end. There is also a parking area at the dead-end of Treasure Road.

History:

Acquired, 1941-1980, with the assistance of the State of Connecticut, the National Park Service, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the Fairfield Conservation Commission.

Facilities:

hiking, horseback riding, camping, wildlife conservation, wetland protection

Trails:

Took a circular walk starting at the end of North Street. We go past a pond on the left with the sounds of spring peepers and other frogs. Turn left at the sign and follow the yellow trail northeast and north. (The orange trail soon goes off to the right. This is the trail on which we returned to the parking lot.)

Came to a power-cut (heading east-west). Power-cuts are always interesting and always add to the plant list because it is a unique habitat itself. Come to a pond with lots of conifers planted along one of its sides. Coming to the end of the pond we switched to the orange trail heading east. (The yellow trail heads further north.) Reach a T-intersection with both the yellow and red trails, turning right and heading south. Later, the red trail goes off right (west).

Recross the power cut at a different point. There is an interesting shrub swamp/giant reed grass marsh near the power-cut this time. We pick up the orange trail again, then the red, then finally orange again (all the while heading straight) and returning to the starting point of the hike.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney, 3/16/02

Trees:
Acer pensylvanicum (striped maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple) *
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya sp. (hickory)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Picea abies (Norway spruce) -- planted
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus palustris (pin oak)?
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Thuja occidentalis (arbor-vitae) -- planted
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Chimaphila maculata (spotted wintergreen)
Chimaphila umbellata (pipsissewa)
Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepperbush)
Comptonia peregrina (sweetfern)
Corylus sp. (hazel) *
Decodon verticillatus (swamp loosestrife)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Forsythia sp. (golden bells)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Kalmia latifolia (mountain laurel)
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Rhododendron periclymenoides (pinxter flower)
Rhododendron viscosum (swamp azalea)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Spiraea tomentosa (steeplebush)
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Vaccinium sp. (a low-bush blueberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaf viburnum)
Viburnum prunifolium (blackhaw viburnum)

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (greenbrier)

Herbs:
Potentilla sp. (cinquefoil)
Pyrola elliptica (shinleaf)
Solidago sp. (goldenrod)
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein)

Rushes:
Juncus effusus (soft rush)

Sedges:
Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge)
Carex stricta (tussock sedge)

Grasses:
Panicum virgatum (switch grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)
Schizachyrium scoparium (little blue stem grass)

Ferns and Fern Allies:
Lycopodium clavatum (running pine clubmoss)
Lycopodium dentatum (ground cedar clubmoss)
Lycopodium obscurum (ground pine clubmoss)
Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hay-scented fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)

Others:
British soldiers lichen

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