MIANUS RIVER STATE PARK
Greenwich, Fairfield County, CT

Directions:

U.S. 95 north to exit 4; turn left onto Indian Field Road; drive 0.7 of a mile to Route 1; travel directly across Route 1 to Old Post Road and bear right onto Stanwich Road; drive 1.1 miles to the intersection with Orchard Street; turn left (this is still Stanwich Road) and drive 2.3 more miles where you make a right turn onto Connewagh Road; drive 0.4 of a mile and turn left into the parking area.

Another parking area (by Tree Tops):
If coming from the south, take exit 33 (Den Road) off the Merritt Parkway. Go 0.25 of a mile to the traffic roundabout and turn right onto Roxbury Road. Go to the end and turn left onto Westover Road. Go approximately 1.25 miles and look for Merriebrook Road on the right. Turn right and go to the end of the road. If coming from the north, take the Den Road exit, make first left, then take next left onto Riverbank Road, continue south over parkway as road becomes Westover Road and follow as above. Look for small parking area near a red barn on the right.

There is a parking area on Howard Road by house #64, but, if I remember correctly, they have placed a huge boulder right at the entrance so you cannot get into the parking area.  Why it can't be opened, they don't say. 

There is a parking area by Merribrook Road.  

History:

In Greenwich/Stamford in 1999 the State of Connecticut acquired Blake-Colman Property - 83.5 acres: this open space property is adjacent to the Mianus River State Park. The DEP, the Trust for Public Lands, and the towns of Greenwich and Stamford acquired the property for $2,280,000.

There is a plaque by the sign for Mianus River Park just up from the Tree Tops Sign: "Dedicated to the memory of Robert M. Fish whose foresight and perseverance made possible the acquisition of Mianus River Park. Environmental Council of Stamford, 1993.

Trails:

There are many trails here. You can take a look at the map drawn on the board on the private road up to Tree Tops.

The two times we went, we never made it into the northern part of the park. This is the description of the first hike I took. Sorry, but I forgot my compass so I can't tell the directions. Instead it will be more like street directions. Go straight on the yellow-blazed wide path, the Main Road, behind the green metal gate. On the right is a huge bowl-shaped shrub swamp (buttonbush in the middle with swamp dogwood and purple loosestrife around the edges). The hiker can walk all the way around the wetlands by following the Main Road and then turning right on the Dam Trail. On the way you will pass by the Oak Trail. This is the trail you will return on from the main walk.

If you go all around the lake, come fully around back to the intersection with the Main Road and the Dam Trail. This time stay on the Main Road. In effect, you are going to make a circular/elliptical walk all the way around a big ridge in the middle of the area and return by the Oak Trail (with a side trip to the Mianus River).

On the Main Road in this section the cliffs of the big ridge are on the left, while wetlands are down below on the right of the hiker. Pass by the blue-blazed Inner Road which returns to the Main Road at a 4-way intersection with the Main Road. Turn left and follow a short ways down to the intersection with the River Road, the Field Trail, and Pine Hill Road.

Here you can take a side-trip down to the Mianus River via the River Road. This trail takes you to somewhat of a flat flood-plain of the river; turning left walks you into the start of a larger and larger hemlock ravine. Return the way you came to the intersection of the Main Road/Pine Hill Road with the Inner Road. Turn right on Pine Hill Road.

Turn left at the intersection of Pine Hill Road with the Second Loop Trail. Follow the blue-blazed trail by turning left. You pass by the Second Loop Trail coming back in on the right. Keep following the trail that follows the main ridge down to a small rosebay rhododendron swamp.
Continuing on, you come to an intersection with the Oak Trail (heading straight on) and the Deer Trail (going right). The Oak Trail shows the signs of a lot of bike use with consequent muddy trails. It parallels the cliffs on the left and a small stream on the right.

The Oak Trail brings you back to the Main Road, turn/bear right and head back to the parking lot.

On March 30, 2002 we parked at the end of Merriebrook Road and made a loop trail by following the River Road Trail/Nature Trail and an unofficial trail along the Mianus River. We walked up to near the waterfall (private property) and then came back via the River Road, then switched to the Inner Road that took us back to River Road. (We could have traveled farther north by heading farther northwest and then northeast to get around the private property by the waterfall, but we didn't know the trails at the time.)

When we went on a Saturday (March 30, 2002) the place was very busy with trout fishermen, lots of mountain bikers, exercise walkers, and lots of dog walkers.

8/19/2006.  My wife Rosemary and I checked on some of the other, not well-known entrances.  Patrick L. Cooney

PLANT LIST:
Carol Levine, Dr. Patrick L. Cooney, CBS
Feb. 8, 2002; March 30, 2002; 5/05/02 (dates indicated times in bloom)

Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple) 3/30/02
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Castanea dentata (American chestnut)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood) 5/05/02
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Ilex opaca (American holly)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Nyssa sylvatica (tupelo)
Ostrya virginiana (American hop hornbeam)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus palustris (pin oak)
Quercus prinus (chestnut oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Thuja occidentalis (arbor-vitae)
Tilia americana (American basswood)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)
Ulmus americana (American elm)
Ulmus rubra (slippery elm)

Shrubs and sub-shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Cephalanthus occidentalis (buttonbush)
Chimaphila maculata (spotted wintergreen)
Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepperbush)
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Cornus mas (Cornelian cherry dogwood)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus) 5/05/02 lots and lots
Euonymus europaeus (European euonymus) 5/05/02
Forsythia sp. (golden bells)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Kalmia latifolia (mountain laurel)
Leucothoe sp. (dog hobble) 5/05/02
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera morrowii? (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Pachysandra terminalis (pachysandra)
Rhododendron maximum (rosebay rhododendron)
Ribes sativum (garden red currant)?
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Rubus sp. (dewberry, prickles on runner only)
Sambucus canadensis (common elderberry)
Staphylea trifolia (bladdernut) 5/05/02
Syringa vulgaris (white lilac) 5/05/02 planted
Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaf viburnum)
Viburnum prunifolium (blackhaw viburnum)
Vinca minor (periwinkle) 5/05/02

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Cuscuta sp. (dodder)
Euonymus fortunii (Fortune's euonymus)
Hedera helix (English ivy)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaf greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vinca minor (periwinkle) 3/30/02
Vitis sp. (grape)
Wisteria sp. (wisteria)

Herbs:
Actaea alba (white baneberry)
Agrimonia sp. (agrimony)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) 5/05/02
Allium canadense (wild onion)
Allium tricoccum (wild leek)
Allium vineale (field garlic)
Anemone quinquefolia (wood anemone)
Arisaema triphyllum (jack-in-the-pulpit) 5/05/02
Aster divaricatus (white wood aster)
Boehmeria cylindrica (false nettle)
Cardamine rhomboidea (springcress) 5/05/02
Caulophyllum thalictroides (blue cohosh) 5/05/02
Chelidonium majus (celandine) 5/05/02
Chelone glabra (white turtlehead)
Chrysosplenium americanum (golden saxifrage)
Cimicifuga racemosa (American bugbane)?
Claytonia virginica (spring beauty) 5/05/02
Dicentra cucullaria (Dutchman's breeches)
Erythronium americanum (trout lily)
Galium aparine (cleavers)
Galium mollugo (wild madder)
Geranium maculatum (wild geranium) 5/05/02
Geum canadense (white avens)
Hemerocallis fulva (tawny day lily)
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed)  8/19/2006
Lysimachia ciliata (whorled loosestrife)
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife)
Maianthemum canadense (Canada mayflower) 5/05/02
Narcissus sp. (daffodil) 3/30/02
Panax trifolius (dwarf ginseng) 5/05/02
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed)
Polygonatum pubescens (hairy true Solomon's seal) 5/05/02 soon
Polygonum virginianum (Virginia knotweed)
Pontederia cordata (pickerelweed)  8/19/2006
Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil) 5/05/02
Prenanthes altissima (tall white lettuce)
Ranunculus abortivus (kidney-leaf crowfoot) 5/05/02
Ranunculus recurvatus (hooked crowfoot) 5/05/02
Sanguinaria canadensis (bloodroot)
Scilla sp. (squill) 3/30/02 5/05/02
Sedum telephioides (garden sedum)
Smilacina racemosa (false Solomon's seal) 5/05/02 soon
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion) 5/05/02
Thalictrum pubescens (tall meadowrue)
Trillium cernuum (nodding trillium)
Trillium erectum (red trillium)
Veratrum viride (swamp hellebore)
Veronica officinalis (common speedwell)
Viola conspersa (dog violet) 5/05/02
Viola cucullata (marsh blue violet) 5/05/02
Viola sororia (common blue violet) 5/05/02

Sedges:
Carex laxiflora type (sedge)
Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge)

Grasses:
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Poa annua (annual bluegrass) 5/05/02

Ferns:
Athyrium thelypteroides (silvery gladefern)
Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hay-scented fern)
Dryopteris marginalis (marginal woodfern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Osmunda regalis (royal fern)
Polypodium sp. (rock cap fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)

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