Dayton Road to Route 53
Dayton Road (Route 53 side), Redding, Fairfield County, CT
52 acres: (attaches to Weston's 1600-acres)
Directions:
Saw Mill River Parkway north; turn right on Route 35 east; drive 14.6 miles to
Route 7 in Connecticut; at the junction with Route 33, turn left, still on Route
35, and then soon turn right onto Route 102. Turn right when you reach
Route 7 (heading south). Turn left onto Route 107. At stop sign keep
going straight on
Route 53 north; turn right onto Dayton Road; the parking lot is on the
left between the mailboxes for houses marked #68 and #70 (which is 0.1 of a mile
before you reach Tudor Road). Limited parking for 5 cars.
Trails:
This is a pretty walk because there are quite a few views of the Saugatuck
Reservoir and River. The woods is mostly hemlock and there are some hemlock
ravines. There are also a lot of streams flowing down to the river. The trail is
the northern part of the Reservoir Trail. It ends on Route 53 near a bridge over
the Saugatuck River by a sign saying "BHC -- An Aquarion Company; Saugatuck
Valley Trails; Permit Required; Call 452-3510."
There is a connection with the Reservoir Trail going south. Our turn right and
go down hill, cross the bridge, cross Tudor Road, and pick up the white trail
going south.
The white-blazed trail parallels a yellow-blazed trail in parts of the woods;
this latter trail continues on into the Stormfield trails.
From the parking lot you can also head south on the white-blazed trail to the
Great Ledge and Devil's Den.
PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney, 3/21/02
Trees:
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch)
Betula lenta (black birch )
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)
Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Chimaphila maculata (spotted wintergreen)
Kalmia latifolia (mountain laurel)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Pachysandra terminalis (pachysandra)
Vines:
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vinca minor (periwinkle) *
Vitis sp. (grape)
Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Chelidonium majus (celandine)
Epifagus virginiana (beech drops)
Monotropa uniflora (Indian pipe)
Narcissus sp. (daffodil)
Pyrola rotundifolia (round-leaved shinleaf)
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Veratrum viride (swamp hellebore)
Sedges:
Carex laxiflora (sedge)
Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge)
Scirpus cyperinus (woolly grass bulrush)
Ferns:
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
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