Elizabeth Gray Preserve
southwest corner of the junction of Route 33 with De Forest Road, Wilton North, Wilton, Fairfield County, CT

Directions:

Saw Mill River Parkway north to Rt. 35 (at intersection with US 684). Take Route 35 into Connecticut to Route 33 south. Drive south through Ridgefield passing Quarry Head Park at 3.4 miles; just past the junction with De Forest Road on the right, turn right and drive up an old driveway to the parking area.

Description:

This looks like a relatively new preserve. They seem to have been doing a lot of trail clearing work recently. The field part of the preserve is heavily invested with invasive species, especially winged euonymus, Japanese barberry and Asiatic bittersweet. The swampy area is less invaded by the alien species.

Trails:

Take the orange trail south to a T-intersection; on the left the yellow trail heads south also; on the right the blue trails starts off northeast but passes over a stone wall and soon is heading west into the swampy area. (Of course after so much drought in the region, this area is drier than usual.) I did not follow the trails to their completion, but my guess is that if you take the blue trail it probably makes a circular connection with the yellow trail and brings you back to the T-intersection and thence to the parking lot via the orange trail.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney, brief visit February 28, 2002

Trees:
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree-of-heaven)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Thuja occidentalis (arbor-vitae) planted

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Smilax sp. (greenbrier)
Vaccinium corymbosum (high-bush blueberry)

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)

Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)

Sedges:
Carex laxiflora type (sedge)
Carex pensylvanica (sedge)

Ferns:
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)

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