Meckauer Park

Shelter Rock Road, Bethel, Fairfield County, Connecticut

39 acres

Directions:

Saw Mill River Parkway north to its end at mile marker 29;  get onto US 684 north; drive about 11 miles and take exit 9E (at mile marker 28) to get onto US 84 east; get off at Exit 8; turn right onto Newtown Road;  turn left onto Plumtrees Road (just after McDonalds on the left and before Burger King on the right);  drive 1.4 miles to a T-intersection; turn right onto Shelter Rock Road; drive less than 0.1 of a mile and turn right into the park entrance.  Park. 

Land donations to the Bethel Land Trust In the Meckaur Park area:. An 18.4 acre parcel was donated in 1980 by James M. Davenport and Keneth J Parsons. Two additional parcels were donated in 1996 by Dolores R. Walters (13.1 and 4.7 acres).

Facilities:

restrooms, multi-use field, basketball, volleyball, playground, picnic area, boating, trails, bathhouse

Meckauer Park off Shelter Rock Road has a Creative Playspace, basketball courts, softball and volleyball facilities, horseshoes and picnicking. The parking permit can be obtained from the Park and Recreation Department, Bethel Municipal Center, 203 794 8501.

Pond

Trails:

7/11/2005.  Ceferino Santana, dog Sonar and I parked in the large parking lot of Meckauer Park.  At the time of the visit we had no idea that the two parks, Meckauer and Bennett Memorial, are adjacent and connected.  We thought it was all just one park.

I wanted to see if I could pick up the Enchanted Trail at the park. There is a trail marker on one of the posts by the picnic pavilion, but although we walked along the entire perimeter of both parks, we could not find any trail, enchanted or not,  leading south.

We started the walk by heading south to the pond in Bennett Memorial Park.  We investigated the outflow of the pond.  The water was too deep to cross so we had to back track and then walk around the pond until we got to the other side of the pond outflow.  We passed a fellow fishing.  Then we walked around the park's perimeter back to Meckauer Park.

We started walking around the perimeter of Meckauer Park going around the pond there.  Passed by the huge children's playground and then returned to the car and left.  On the way out, we turned right onto Shelter Rock Road and to our surprise found the entrance for Bennett Memorial Park.  We turned right into the park and then realized that the park was part of what we had thought was the Meckauer Park.  I had a good laugh.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney. 

PLANT LIST FOR MECKAUER AND BENNETT MEMORIAL PARKS:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney

*  =  plant blooming on date of field trips, 7/11/2005

Trees:
Acer platanoides (Norway maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Alnus glutinosa (black alder)
Carya cordiformis (bitternut hickory)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Morus alba (white mulberry)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)
Populus deltoides (cottonwood)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Salix spp. (willow)
Ulmus americana (American elm)

Shrubs and Subshrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)  
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)    
Cornus kousa (kousa dogwood)
Cornus racemosa (gray dogwood)
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Rhus glabra (smooth sumac)
Ribes sp. (gooseberry)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)  
Rosa palustris (swamp rose)     *
Rubus flagellaris (northern dewberry)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Viburnum dentatum (smooth arrowwood viburnum)
Viburnum dentatum (hairy arrowwood viburnum)
Viburnum lentago (nannyberry viburnum)

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Humulus japonicus (Japanese hops)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)

Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)     *
Antennaria sp. (pussy toes)
Arenaria serpyllifolia (thyme-leaved sandwort)     *
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed)  
Boehmeria cylindrica (false nettle)
Chenopodium album (pigweed)
Cichorium intybus (chicory)     *
Cirsium arvense (Canada thistle)
Cirsium vulgaris (bull thistle)
Conyza canadensis (horseweed)
Coronilla varia (crown vetch)     *
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace)     *
Dianthus armeria (Deptford pink)     *
Erigeron annuus (common daisy fleabane)     *
Euphorbia maculata (spotted spurge)
Galium mollugo (wild madder)     *
Geum canadense (white avens)     *
Glechoma hederacea (gill over the ground)
Hemerocallis fulva (tawny day lily)     *
Hibiscus moscheutos (swamp rose mallow)
Hypericum perforatum (common St. Johnswort)     *
Impatiens pallidum (yellow touch-me-not)     *
Lactuca canadensis (wild lettuce) 
Linaria vulgaris (butter and eggs)
Lotus corniculatus (birdfoot trefoil)     *
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife)     *
Medicago lupulina (black medick)     *
Melilotus alba (white sweet clover)     *
Myosotis laxa (lesser forget-me-not)     *
Myosotis scorpioides (forget-me-not)     *
Oxalis (yellow wood sorrel)     *
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed)
Potentilla argentea (silvery cinquefoil)     *
Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil)
Prunella vulgaris (self-heal)     *
Rudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima (black-eyed Susan)     *
Rumex acetosella (sheep sorrel)
Scleranthus annuus (knawel)
Silene latifolia (white campion)     *
Solanum carolinense (horse nettle)     *
Solidago canadensis var. scabra (tall goldenrod)(
Solidago gigantea (late goldenrod)
Solidago rugosa (rough-stemmed goldenrod)
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion)     *
Tragopogon pratensis (showy goatsbeard)     *
Trifolium aureum (yellow clover)     *
Trifolium pratense (red clover)     *
Trifolium repens (white clover)     *
Urtica dioica var. procera (tall nettle)

Rushes:
Juncus effusus (soft rush)
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Sedges:
Carex lupuliformis (hop-like sedge)
Carex lurida (sallow sedge)
Carex stricta (tussock sedge)
Scirpus atrovirens (dark-green bulrush)

Grasses:
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Elytrigia repens (quack grass)
Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass)
Phalaris arundinacea (reed canary grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)

Ferns and Fern Allies:
Equisetum hyemale (scouring rush)
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)

 

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