Lover's Leap State Park
Lover's Leap Road, New Milford, Litchfield County, Connecticut

Directions:

Saw Mill River north to its end at US 684 north; drive 11 miles to an exit at exit 9E for US 84; US 84 east to exit 7 for Route 7 north; turn right onto Still River Drive; drive 1.3 miles straight heading onto Lower Grove Street to a right turn onto Hine Hill Road; right turn onto Town Farm Road; right onto Lovers Leap Road to a parking area on the right by a gate.

History:

2005 (June)  --  the stabbing murder of a woman and an infant in the park  The bodies were found along a walking trail in the park by two fishermen. (The paper reported it as happening in Addis Park, but it happened in this park.)

Trails:

6/20/2005.    On a beautiful day, Rosemary Santana Cooney, Ceferino Santana, dog Sonar and I parked near the gate.  We walked uphill heading west. Lake Lillinonah was downhill on the left and cliffs on the right.  Visited a dry area (with the habitat-appropriate plant species) with a great overlook of Lake Lillinonah.  Worth the short trip up to this lookout.

Got back on the main path and turned right with the trail heading north.  There is a hillside to the right filled with hemlocks.  There is a path on the right ( a little hidden because of a downed tree) that looks like it might take the hiker to the top of the mountain. 

We kept going straight on the main path.  It heads to the other side of the mountain by Lower Grove Street.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney

*  =  plant blooming on date of field trips, 6/20/2005

Trees:
Acer negundo (box elder)
Acer platanoides (Norway maple)
Acer saccharinum (silver maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Ailanthus altissima (tree of heaven)
Amelanchier arborea (shadbush)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Catalpa sp. (catalpa)     *
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Morus alba (white mulberry)
Ostrya virginiana (American hop hornbeam)
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus ilicifolia (scrub oak)
Quercus prinus (chestnut oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Tilia americana (basswood)
Tsuga americana (eastern hemlock)
Ulmus americana (American elm)
Ulmus rubra (slippery elm)

Shrubs and Subshrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)  
Cornus alternifolia (alternate-leaved dogwood)
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Gaylussacia baccata (black huckleberry)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Ligustrum sp. (privet)     *
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)   
Rhus typhina (staghorn sumac) 
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)   *
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus odoratum (purple-flowering raspberry)     *
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)  
Staphylea trifolia (bladder nut)
Vaccinium pallidum (hillside blueberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaf viburnum)
Vinca minor (periwinkle)

Vines:
Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (porcelainberry)
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Echinocystis lobata (wild cucumber vine)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vincetoxicum nigrum (black swallowwort)  
Vitis riparia (river bank grape)
Wisteria sp. (wisteria)

Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)    *
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed)
Amphicarpaea bracteata (hog peanut)
Anemone virginiana (thimbleweed)
Apocynum cannabinum (Indian hemp)   
Arctium sp. (burdock)
Arisaema triphyllum (jack-in-the-pulpit)
Baptisia sp. (indigo)
Chelidonium majus (celandine)     *
Duchesnea indica (Indian strawberry)
Epipactis helleborine (helleborine orchid)
Erigeron annuus (daisy fleabane)    *
Eupatorium rugosum (white snakeroot)
Galium aparine (cleavers)   
Galium mollugo (wild madder)     *
Geranium maculatum (wild geranium)  
Hackelia virginiana (Virginia stickseed)
Helianthemum canadense (frostweed)     *
Hieracium venosum (rattlesnake weed)     *
Impatiens sp. (touch-me-not)
Leonurus cardiaca (motherwort)    *
Lepidium virginicum (poor man's pepper)  
Medicago lupulina (black medick)     *
Melilotus alba (white sweet clover)     *
Medicago lupulina (black medick)    *
Peltandra virginica (arrow arum)
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonatum pubescens (hairy true Solomon's seal)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose knotweed)  
Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed)
Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil)  
Potentilla recta (rough-fruited cinquefoil)     *
Rumex acetosella (sheep sorrel)
Rumex crispus (curled dock)
Rumex obtusifolius (broad dock)
Solanum dulcamara (bittersweet nightshade)    
Solidago flexicaulis (zig-zag goldenrod)
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion)   *
Trifolium pratense (red clover)    *
Trifolium repens (white clover)    *
Tussilago farfara (colts foot)
Veronica officinalis (common speedwell)    *
Zizia aurea (golden Alexanders)    

Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Sedges:
Carex laxiflora type (loose-flowered type sedge)
Carex rosea type (rosea type sedge)
Carex vulpinoidea (fox sedge)
Cyperus sp. (flat sedge)

Grasses:
Anthoxanthum odoratum (sweet vernal grass)
Bromus inermis (smooth brome grass)
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Elytrigia repens (quack grass)
Holcus lanatus (velvet grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Panicum sp. (panic grass)
Phleum pratense (Timothy grass)
Poa annua (annual bluegrass)

Ferns and Fern Allies:
Asplenium platyneuron (ebony spleenwort)
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Dryopteris marginalis (marginal woodfern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)

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