Cherry Lawn Park
120 Brookside Road
27.5 acres

One of the busiest parks in Darien.

Directions:

US 95 north to exit 13; turn left onto Boston Post Road (Route 1); turn left onto Brookside Road; drive 0.6 of a mile and turn right into the park entrance.

Geology/Topography:

Tokeneke Brook flows south through the Park to Scott's Cove on the Long Island Sound.. 

Facilities:

Five tennis courts, small pond with dock, multi-use Casey Field, nature trails, playground areas, basketball court, softball field, 4 tennis courts, picnic areas, community gardens, gazebo, public restroom, community gardens.

Darien Nature Center -Located in Cherry Lawn Park children’s zoo, summer garden tour, special events, etc.  Environmental Education Center. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays, Sat. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Donation. Walking trail, live animal exhibits, year round children's programs.

1995  --  since the 1995 Town Plan of Development, a number of changes have occurred at Cherry Lawn Park, which have both intensified the use of the Park, and enhanced its surroundings. First, a new Nature Center with associated parking was constructed in the southwest corner of the Park, and the building that housed the Nature Center, storage facilities, and a tenant space was demolished.

2004  --  Casey Field approved for expansion.

http://www.ci.darien.ct.us/townplan/parkrecopenspaceappendix.pdf.

Trails:

10/28/2005.  For all the facilities, this is a somewhat small park.  The Nature Center is a real beauty of a place. There is a small loop trail that starts behind the Nature Center.  There is a kiosk with a map of the route at the trail entrance.  The area is mainly wetlands with a pond, a stream and swampy areas.  To make the walk longer we got off the loop trail near the children's playground.  We walked along the pond.  There is an attractive arched stone bridge that heads over a part of the pond and out to a small peninsula.  A little farther on there is another, but smaller arched stone bridge.  We continued on past the pond to come out closer to the community gardens part of the park.  We found another side trail, but it only went a short distance of private property.

We could have returned to the small loop trail and finish up behind the Nature Center, but we decided to walk through the center of the park back to the Nature Center.  It's a lovely park with a small natural area.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.  

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = plant found in bloom on date of field trip, 10/28/2005

Trees:
Acer platanoides (Norway maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree of heaven)
Aralia spinosa (Hercules club)
Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya sp. (hickory)
Catalpa sp. (catalpa)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fagus sylvatica (European beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Gleditsia triacanthos (honey locust)
Ilex aquifolium (English holly)
Juglans sp. (walnut)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Magnolia sp. (magnolia) 
Morus alba (white mulberry)
Ostrya virginiana (American hop hornbeam)
Populus deltoides (cottonwood)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Pyrus calleryana (callery pear)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Salix alba var. (weeping willow)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Taxus sp. (yew)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)
Ulmus rubra (slippery elm)

Shrubs and sub-shrubs:
Alnus serrulata (smooth alder)
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepperbush)
Corylus sp. (hazel)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)   --  lots
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Ilex verticillata (winterberry holly)
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Rhodotypos scandens (jetbead)
Rhus glabra (smooth sumac)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Sambucus canadensis (common elderberry)
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaf viburnum)
Viburnum dentatum (arrowwood viburnum)
Vinca minor (periwinkle)

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Hedera helix (English ivy)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaf greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)

Herbs:
Acalypha sp. (three-seeded mercury)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Arctium sp. (burdock)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort) 
Aster spp. (aster)     *
Bidens sp. (beggar ticks)
Boehmeria cylindrica (false nettle)
Callitriche sp. (water starwort)
Cardamine pratensis var. palustris (cuckoo flower)  --  noted in the park literature
Cirsium vulgare (bull thistle)
Claytonia virginica (spring beauty)  --  noted in the park literature
Epifagus virginiana (beech drops)
Euthamia graminifolia (grass-leaved goldenrod)
Impatiens sp. (jewelweed)
Iris sp. (blue or yellow flag)
Ludwigia palustris (water purslane)
Lycopus sp. (bugleweed)
Lysimachia nummularia (moneywort)
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife)
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed)
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain)
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed)     *
Polygonum sp. (hydropiper) ?  (water pepper)     *
Polygonum virginianum (Virginia knotweed)
Rumex sp. (dock)
Solidago spp. (goldenrod)
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Trifolium repens (white clover)

Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Grasses:
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Setaria glauca (yellow foxtail grass)

Ferns:
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)

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