Clatter Valley Park
Clatter Valley Road,
New Milford, Litchfield County, Connecticut
approximately 100+ acres
Directions:
Saw Mill River north to its end at US 684 north; drive 11 miles to an exit at exit 9E for US 84; US 84 east to exit 7 for Route 7 north; turn right onto Still River Drive; drive 1.3 miles straight heading onto Lower Grove Street to a right turn onto Hine Hill Road; right turn onto Town Farm Road; look off to the left to see the sign for the park. Turn left and quickly turn right into the park entrance.
Or:
Rt. 67, turn right on to Grove Street, left on to Hine Hill Road. At the stop sign take a right on the Old Farm Road. Park is on the right, look for an old white farm house.
Facilities:
horseback riding, cross country skiing, fishing, tobogganing, a hiking trail and a pond; public pavilion with picnic tables available for reserved group use. Alcohol is allowed by permit only at this site. Park opens one half hour before sunrise, and closes one half hour after sunset.
Trails:
6/20/2005. On a beautiful day with just a few dark clouds in the sky, Rosemary Santana Cooney, Ceferino Santana, dog Sonar and I made a brief stop at Clatter Valley Park. This is a place where people can pitch their tents and stay overnight or bring their Winnebagos or camper trailers. There are huge lawns here and there set in the woods area. Most of the people here were camping or picnicking.
There is a great field right in the front part of the park. We parked in this section away from the campers to explore the field. We walked through it over to a small stream.
We next walked around the wood's edge past the campers. There is an opening in the woods to a bridge over the stream. This bridge constructed by Michael Gallant of Troop 58, September 2002 for his Eagle Scout Project. From here a trail heads into the woods.
I would have follow the trail if by myself, but my wife did not want to continue so we turned around and went back to the car. Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.
PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = plant blooming on date of field trips, 6/20/2005
Trees:
Acer negundo (box elder)
Acer platanoides (Norway maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Picea abies (Norway spruce)
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)
Populus deltoides (cottonwood)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (b lack oak)
Salix sp. (willow)
Tsuga americana (eastern hemlock)
Ulmus rubra (slippery elm)
Shrubs and Subshrubs:
Alnus serrulata (smooth alder)
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Chimaphila maculata (striped wintergreen)
Cornus alternifolia (alternate-leaved dogwood)
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood) *soon
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Ligustrum sp. (privet) *
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Rhamnus frangula (European buckthorn) *
Rhus glabra (smooth sumac)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose) *
Rubus hispidus (swamp dewberry)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Salix sp. (willow)
Sambucus canadensis (common elderberry)
Spiraea alba var. latifolia (meadowsweet)
Vines:
Calystegia sepium (hedge bindweed)
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis aestivalis (summer grape)
Herbs:
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow) *soon
Agrimonia sp. (agrimony)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) *
Allium canadense (wild garlic) *
Angelica atropurpurea (purple-stemmed angelica) quite a bit
Apocynum medium (spreading dogbane)
Arctium sp. (burdock)
Arisaema triphyllum (jack-in-the-pulpit)
Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed) *soon
Chelidonium majus (celandine) *
Chenopodium album (pigweed)
Dianthus armeria (Deptford pink) *
Duchesnea indica (Indian strawberry)
Erigeron annuus (daisy fleabane) *
Euphorbia maculata (spotted spurge)
Galium mollugo (wild madder) *
Galium palustre (marsh bedstraw) *
Geranium maculatum (wild geranium) *
Hesperis matronalis (dame's rocket) * lots
Hieracium caespitosum (field hawkweed) *
Impatiens sp. (touch-me-not)
Leonurus cardiaca (motherwort) *
Maianthemum canadense (Canada mayflower)
Medicago lupulina (black medick) *
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel) *
Pastinaca sativa (wild parsnip) *soon
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed)
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain) *
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed) lots
Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed)
Potentilla recta (rough-fruited cinquefoil) *
Ranunculus acris (tall buttercup) *
Rumex acetosella (sheep sorrel)
Silene latifolia (white campion) *
Solanum dulcamara (bittersweet nightshade) *
Solidago gigantea (late goldenrod)
Stellaria graminea (lesser stitchwort) *
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion) *
Thalictrum pubescens (tall meadowrue)
Trifolium aureum (yellow clover) *
Trifolium pratense (red clover) *
Trifolium repens (white clover) *
Typha latifolia (broad-leaved cattail)
Urtica dioica var. dioica (stinging nettle)
Urtica dioica var. procera (tall nettle)
Vicia cracca (cow vetch) *
escape? yellow flowers with brown spotted throats, bells-shaped but flattened a bit on top and bottom; flowers at top of plant; leaves alternate toothed; plant very hairy.
Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)
Sedges:
Carex crinita (fringed sedge)
Carex ovales type (ovales type sedge)
Scirpus atrovirens (dark-green bulrush)
Grasses:
Anthoxanthum odoratum (sweet vernal grass)
Bromus inermis (smooth brome grass)
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Holcus lanatus (velvet grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Phalaris arundinacea (reed canary grass)
Phleum pratense (Timothy grass)
Poa annua (annual bluegrass)
Ferns and Fern Allies:
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Osmunda claytoniana (interrupted fern)
Osmunda regalis (royal fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
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