Hut Hill Road Property
Hut Hill Road, Bridgewater, Litchfield County, Connecticut
Directions:
Route 133 north through Brook field into Bridgewater; turn right onto Stuart Road East; drive 0.8 of a mile and at the intersection head across the road and onto Hut Hill Road; drive 0.3 of a mile (just east of Skyline Ridge Road) to turn left into the parking area (just before Campbell Services -- gas station?). Park.
History:
Owned by The Nature Conservancy.
Trails:
8/12/2005. On a hot day, Ceferino Santana, dog Sonar and I parked by the gate. We found this place serendipitously. We were on our way to lower Roxbury and I just happened to catch the yellow The Nature Conservancy sign. I find quite a few places this way.
Agriculture is going on in the area. And most of the area here is fields. But there is also a pond and woods.
We headed around the gate going north. Fields were on both sides separated by a hedge of woods. In one of the fields were rolled bales of hay covered with some kind of white plastic. On the left, we pass a path heading west downhill. After passing the two fields on the left we head into a small woods area going slightly uphill. We decided to try to make a loop trail out of the walk, so we turned left, walked downhill and then found an entry into the woods. The rutted path goes west, then southwest and then back to west.
We bear left heading south. Heading west er cross a dried-up stream. Still heading west we come out to a field of pumpkins. We turn left heading south. We start finding red circles with "A. K. Trail" on them. At the end of the pumpkin field we turn left (southeast) going into the woods again. Turn left still following the A. K. Trail. Turn left again (heading east). (Thank goodness for the compass.)
We come to a sign "The Pond View." Here there is a small pond from which they apparently draw water for irrigation purposes. At the other end of the pond is a marshy area so we head around the pond on the right side to get to it.
After viewing the marsh, we come back to where we started by the pond. We turn left to resume our march back to the fields that we past earlier in the day. Reaching the fields, we turn right and with a short walk are back at the parking area. Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.
PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = plant(s) blooming on date of field trip, 8/12/2005
Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree-of-heaven)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Carya tomentosa (mockernut hickory)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus pensylvanica (green ash)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Pyrus malus (apple)
Pyrus sp. (crab apple)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Ulmus americana (American elm)
Shrubs and Subshrubs:
Alnus serrulata (smooth alder)
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Cornus racemosa (gray dogwood)
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Ilex verticillata (winterberry holly)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Rhus glabra (smooth sumac)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus hispidus (swamp dewberry)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Salix discolor (pussy willow)
Sambucus canadensis (common elderberry)
Spiraea tomentosa (steeplebush) *
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Viburnum lentago (nannyberry viburnum)
Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis aestivalis (summer grape)
Vitis labrusca (fox grape)
Herbs:
Abutilon theophrasti (velvet leaf) *
Acalypha sp. (three-seeded mercury)
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow) *
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Amphicarpaea bracteata (hog peanut)
Arctium sp. (burdock)
Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed)
Bidens connata (swamp beggar ticks)
Bidens spp. (beggar ticks) *
Centaurea jacea (brown knapweed) *
Chenopodium album (pigweed) *
Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (ox-eye daisy) *
Cichorium intybus (chicory) *
Cirsium vulgare (bull thistle) *
Conyza canadensis (horseweed) *
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace) *
Dianthus armeria (Deptford pink) *
Erechtites hieraciifolia (pileweed) *
Erigeron annuus (daisy fleabane) *
Euthamia graminifolia (grass-leaved goldenrod) *
Galium mollugo (wild madder) *
Galium spp. (bedstraw)
Geranium maculatum (wild geranium)
Geum canadense (white avens) *
Hesperis matronalis (dame's rocket)
Hypericum perforatum (common St. Johnswort) *
Impatiens sp. (jewelweed)
Lemna sp. (duckweed)
Lepidium virginicum (poor man's pepper)
Linaria vulgaris (butter and eggs) *
Lotus corniculatus (birdfoot trefoil) *
Ludwigia palustris (water purslane) *
Mimulus ringens (monkey flower) *
Monarda punctata (horsemint) *
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel) *
Penthorum sedoides (ditch stonecrop) *
Pilea pumila (clearweed)
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain) *
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed) *
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed)
Polygonum hydropiper (wild pepper) *
Polygonum sagittatum (arrow-leaved tearthumb) *
Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed) *
Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil)
Prunella vulgaris (self-heal) *
Ranunculus acris (tall buttercup) *
Rudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima (black-eyed Susan) *
Rumex obtusifolius (broad dock)
Satureja vulgaris (wild basil) *
Scutellaria lateriflora (maddog skullcap) *
Silene latifolia (white campion) *
Solanum carolinense (horse nettle) *
Solidago canadensis var. scabra (tall goldenrod) *
Solidago gigantea (late goldenrod) *
Solidago rugosa (rough-leaved goldenrod) *
Stellaria pubera (star chickweed) *
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion)
Trifolium aureum (yellow clover) *
Trifolium pratense (red clover) *
Trifolium repens (white clover) *
Urtica dioica var. dioica (stinging nettle) *
Urtica dioica var. procera (tall nettle) *
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein) *
Vernonia noveboracensis (New York ironweed) *
Vicia cracca (cow vetch) *
Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)
Sedges:
Carex crinita (fringed sedge)
Carex lurida (sallow sedge)
Carex vulpinoidea (fox sedge)
Cyperus strigosus (umbrella sedge)
Scirpus atrovirens (dark green bulrush)
Scirpus cyperinus (woolly grass bulrush)
Grasses:
Alopecurus sp. (foxtail grass)
Bromus inermis (smooth brome grass)
Cinna arundinacea (wood reedgrass)
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Digitaria ischaemum (smooth crabgrass)
Elytrigia repens (quack grass)
Glyceria canadensis (rattlesnake mannagrass)
Glyceria sp. (mannagrass)
Leersia oryzoides (rice cutgrass)
Leersia virginica (white grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Phleum pratense (Timothy grass)
Setaria faberi (nodding foxtail grass)
Ferns and Fern Allies:
Equisetum hyemale (scouring rush)
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hay-scented fern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Thelypteris palustris (marsh fern)
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