Fairfield Public Access Beach
Sasco Hill Road, Fairfield, Fairfield County, Connecticut
No Dogs, April 1 to October 1.
Directions:
US 95 north to exit 19; turn right onto Center Street; follow the road down to the T-intersection and turn left onto Harbor Road; head over the bridge on the right heading over Southport Harbor; turn right onto Sasco Hill Road; Sasco Hill Road turns right near Long Island Sound; the beach entrance is at the end of Sasco Hill Road.
Trails:
11/12/2005. On a cool, but clear day, Rosemary Cooney, Sarah-David Rosenbaum, Ceferino Santana, dog Sonar and I parked at the end of the parking lot for the public access beach. It's a nice beach here, fairly wide compared to some others we have seen. We walked south along a small dune to note down the vegetation. Just at the top of this small dune starts the golf course of the Country Club of Fairfield with quite a few no trespassing signs.
We kept going past the one beach and onto Sasco Beach. We walked down almost to the beach house of the country club and then turned around and came back. There was a larger patch of vegetation near the beach house which we examined closely.
Turned around and headed back to the parking lot. Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.
PLANT LIST FOR FAIRFIELD PUBLIC ACCESS
AND SASCO BEACHES:
Dr. Patrick Cooney, Sarah-David Rosenbaum, Rosemary Cooney
* = plant blooming on date of field trip, 11/12/2005
Trees:
Ailanthus altissima (tree of heaven)
Gleditsia triacanthos (honey locust)
Pinus thunbergii (Japanese black pine)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Shrubs:
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Rosa rugosa (wrinkled rose)
Vines:
Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (porcelainberry)
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Lathyrus japonicus (beach pea)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Herbs:
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Arctium sp. (burdock)
Artemisia caudata (tall wormwood)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed)
Asparagus officinalis (asparagus)
Atriplex patula (orach)
Cakile edentula (sea rocket) * 1 bloom
Cirsium arvense (Canada thistle)
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace)
Gnaphalium obtusifolium (sweet everlasting)
Lepidium virginicum (poor man's pepper)
Linaria vulgaris (butter and eggs) *
Nepeta cataria (catnip)
Oenothera biennis (common evening primrose)
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed)
Polygonum lapathifolium (nodding smartweed)
Salsola kali (saltwort)
Saponaria officinalis (bounding bet) *
Silene latifolia (white campion) *
Solanum dulcamara (bittersweet nightshade)
Solidago sempervirens (seaside goldenrod)
Solidago sp. (goldenrod)
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein)
Sedges:
Cyperus esculentus (nut sedge)
Grasses:
Ammophila breviligulata (beach grass)
Eragrostis spectabilis (purple love grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)
Schizachyrium scoparium (little blue stem grass)
Setaria faberi (nodding foxtail grass)
Setaria glauca (yellow foxtail grass)
Spartina alterniflora (salt marsh cordgrass)
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