Trails:

60 minutes combined between the two places; easy walk following the Titicus River. 

6/26/2005.  Ceferino Santana, dog Sonar and I parked right by the sign for Kiah's Brook Refuge.  (Thinking about it now, that's probably not the best place to park since it is on a curve in the road.)  We picked up the yellow trail.  We turned left at a T-intersection of the yellow trail.  Went uphill through the woods and then came out onto the school property proper.  We turned right and in about a hundred yards or less we saw a tree with three red and three yellow marks indicating the beginning of the trails.  We headed downhill toward a swampy area and then turned right to walk south along the area.  We had to go uphill and then south and then back downhill to avoid coming near a house.

The yellow trail heads south a short distance uphill from the small Titicus River which flows north here.  Walking along the river trail we found the blue trail heading off left from the yellow trail.  Walking farther we saw the red trail going uphill on the left of the trail. We kept walking on the yellow trail.  The yellow trail suddenly started going uphill and came out in the back yard of some brick building.  We turned around to retrace our steps back to the car. 

Got off the trail by a wooden bridge over the river to someone's backyard to look at some of the river plants: lots of skunk cabbage along with some swamp buttercup.

We did not follow the red trail per se, but it looks as though it goes south also, but farther up the hill from the yellow trail.  It also look like the red trail goes farther south than the yellow trail.  If we return we will follow the red trail to see how far we can get.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.

Sources:

Catalog of Ridgefield Open Spaces: http://www.rosaopenspace.org/catalog/index.html#Blacksmith%20Ridge

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney

*  =  plant blooming on date of field trips, 6/26/2005

Trees:
Acer platanoides (Norway maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)    
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Carya tomentosa (mockernut hickory)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)
Populus grandidentata (big-toothed aspen)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Pyrus sp. (crab apple)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)

Shrubs and Subshrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)  lots and lots
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)     *
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)  
Euonymus atropurpureus (burning bush)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Ilex verticillata (winterberry holly)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)     *
Pachysandra terminalis (pachysandra)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Sambucus canadensis (common elderberry)     *

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vincetoxicum nigrum (black swallowwort)
Vitis aestivalis (summer grape)

Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)    * 
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed)
Amphicarpaea bracteata (hog peanut)
Apocynum cannabinum (Indian hemp)     *
Arisaema triplhyllum (Jack in the pulpit)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Aster spp. (asters)
Cardamine impatiens (narrow-leaved bittercress)
Cerastium vulgatum (mouse-ear chickweed)
Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (ox-eye daisy)     *
Circaea lutetiana (enchanter's nightshade)
Cirsium arvense (Canada thistle)     *soon
Galium aparine (cleavers)  
Galium circaezens (wild licorice)     *
Geranium maculatum (wild geranium)
Hesperis matronalis (dame's rocket)     *
Impatiens sp. (touch-me-not)
Lapsana communis (nipplewort)     *
Lysimachia nummularia (moneywort)
Maianthemum  canadense (Canada mayflower)
Medicago lupulina (black medick)     *
Melilotus officinalis (yellow sweet clover)     *
Myosotis scorpioides (larger forget-me-not)     *
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel)     *
Penstemon sp. (beards tongue)     *
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed)     *
Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil)  
Ranunculus hispidus var. caricetorium (swamp buttercup)
Ranunculus recurvatus (hooked crowfoot)
Rumex sp. (dock)
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion)  
Thlaspi perfoliatum (pennycress)
Triodanis perfoliata (Venus looking glass)
Trifolium aureum (yellow clover)     *
Trifolium pratense (red clover)     *
Trifolium repens (white clover)     *
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein)
Veronica officinalis (common speedwell)
Vicia cracca (cow vetch)     *

Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Sedges:
Carex laxiflora type (loose-flowered type sedge)

Grasses:
Anthoxanthum odoratum (sweet vernal grass)
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Phalaris arundinacea (reed canary grass)
Phleum pratense (Timothy grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)
Poa compressa (Canada bluegrass)

Ferns and Fern Allies:
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hay-scented fern)
Dryopteris marginalis (marginal woodfern)
Osmunda claytoniana (interrupted fern)
Osmunda regalis (royal fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)

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