Horseshoe Park
Horseshoe Road, Wilton, Fairfield County, Connecticut
8,.8 acres

Directions:

Sprain Brook Parkway north to US 287 east; get off for the exit for the Merritt Parkway; get off at exit 39 for Route 7 north; at the end of the parkway extension, turn right at the light; turn left onto US 7 north; turn left onto Wolfpit Road; turn right onto Horseshoe Road. Almost immediately on the left there is a semi-circular pull-off area where cars can park.   

trails, pond and birding

Trails:

The Wilton Olmstead Hill Road to Wolfpit Road Trail (2.7 miles):

Parking Directions:
There is parking at the northern section at both Allen’s Meadow and Merwin Meadows. Allen’s Meadows parking is off of Route 7 (Danbury Road).
There is parking at Merwin Meadows is off Ridgefield Road.
Parking for the southern section is available at Horseshoe Park.

northern end:
Allens Meadows (which has 2 multi-purpose playing fields and community gardens);
runs adjacent to Wilton High School and the athletic complex;
goes along a woodland trail;
Merwin Meadows (with a swimming pond and bathhouse, picnic area, playground, and soccer field);
a wooden bridge for pedestrian and bike traffic;
the town center;
follows sidewalks along River Road through town center;
south of town center there is access to Schenck’s Island (a park with walking trails that follow the Norwalk River's banks);
just south of Schenck’s Island, the 82-acre Bradley Park is accessed from River Road on its west side;
down River Road, the trail ends at the north end of Horseshoe Park;
Horseshoe Park connects to Wolfpit Road.
Southern end.

Source:  http://www.ct.gov/dot/LIB/dot/documents/dbikes/118.pdf

9/09/2005.  On a beautiful day, Ceferino Santana, dog Sonar and I walked in Horseshoe Park.  Most of this park is pond with a little park ground on a few sides. 

There is actually very little "park."  A little bit of the southwestern and southern parts of the park are actually open and within the park officially.  To walk the western part, one has to walk along the western part of Horseshoe Road with little actual park ground (excluding the adjacent pond). 

One cannot walk on the northern side (too much and too close auto traffic) and that is ditto for most of the eastern part of the park (and there are private houses along the pond here).

It did not take long to walk the area available to us.  The southwestern end of the horseshoe shaped Horseshoe Road is closed off to traffic.

The pond is pretty.  Today there were lots of white water lily plants in bloom.   Dr. Patrick L. Cooney

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney

*  =  plants blooming on field trip, 9/09/2005

Trees:
Acer platanoides (Norway spruce)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree-of-heaven)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Carya cordiformis (bitternut hickory)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Juglans nigra (black walnut)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Picea abies (Norway spruce)
Picea sp. (pungens?) (spruce) planted
Pinus sp. (long, two-needled pine)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)
Populus sp. (poplar)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Pyrus sp. (crab apple)
Quercus palustris (pin oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Salix sp. (willow)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)
Ulmus rubra (slippery elm)

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Cephalanthus occidentalis (buttonbush)
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Forsythia sp. (golden bells)
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Myrica pensylvanica (bayberry)
Philadelphus sp. (mock orange)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Syringa vulgaris (lilac)
Vinca minor (periwinkle)

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Hedera helix (English ivy)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vincetoxicum nigrum (black swallowwort)
Vitis labrusca (fox grape)

Herbs:
Acalypha sp. (three-seeded mercury)
Ajuga reptans (bugleweed)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Antennaria sp. (pussytoes)
Arctium sp. (burdock)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Aster divaricatus (white wood aster)     *
Aster spp. (aster)     *
Commelina communis (Asiatic dayflower)     *
Erechtites hieraciifolia (pileweed) 
Eupatorium perfoliatum (boneset)     *
Euthamia graminifolia (grass-leaved goldenrod)     *
Galium mollugo (wild madder)     *
Geum canadense (white avens)
Hemerocallis fulva (tawny day lily)    
Hesperis matronalis (dame's rocket)
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed)     *
Lactuca canadensis (wild lettuce)     *
Leonurus cardiaca (motherwort)
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife)     *
Nuphar variegata (white water lily)     *
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel)     *
Pilea pumila (clearweed)
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonum spp. (smartweed)     *
Rudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima (black-eyed Susan)    planted    *
Rumex obtusifolius (broad dock)
Solidago rugosa (rough-leaved goldenrod)     *
Stellaria media (star chickweed)     *
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein)
Verbena hastata (blue vervain)   

Grasses:
Leersia oryzoides (rice cut grass)
Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass)
Setaria faberi (nodding foxtail grass)
Setaria glauca (yellow foxtail grass)
Tridens flavus (purple top grass)

Ferns:
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Pteridium aquilinum (bracken fern)

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