Mill Hollow Park  

Mill Hill Terrace & Sturges Road, Fairfield, Fairfield County, Connecticut

Directions:

Merritt Parkway north for a little less than 27 miles to get off at Exit 44; turn left onto Congress Street; turn left (south) onto Burr Street;  keep heading straight and Burr Street becomes Mill Plain Road (at Brookside Street/Road); turn right onto Unquowa Road; pass over the bridge spanning the Mill River and at the adjacent stop sign turn left onto Mill Hill Terrace (with Sturges Road on the right).  Almost immediately pull into the pull-off on the left side of the road and park. 

Trails:

12/07/2005.  We started at the west side of the river.  Crossed the highway bridge over Mill River and walked along the east side of the river.  There is a wide path by a pull-off heading into the woods paralleling the river.  Come upon a boardwalk on the left heading through swampy area.  We head straight figuring the path will go in a loop.  We pick up another boardwalk heading through the Phragmites marsh.  All of a sudden the river widens on the right.  We reach a large lawn area with access to the shoreline.  We see US 95 to the south.  There is a bench alongside the shoreline.  We walk across the large lawn up to Somerset Avenue by a private drive at "Riverhurst".

We turn around and catch the end of the boardwalk we saw earlier.  This walkway heads along various small ponds.  Sure enough, it returns us to the point we first saw the start of the boardwalk. 

We returned to our car at the parking pull-off for the park.  We followed along the western side of the river for a short ways to where there is a large grassy area of the park.  Turned around and returned to the car.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney, 12/07/2005

Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Ailanthus altssima (tree of heaven)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Picea abies (Norway spruce)
Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus rubra (red oak)

Shrubs:
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Ilex verticillata (winterberry)
Ligustrum sp. (privet)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rosa rugosa (wrinkled rose)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)

Herbs:
Iris sp. (blue or yellow flag)
Lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife)
Phytolacca americana (pokeweed)
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed)

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

Sedges:
Carex stricta (tussock sedge)

Grasses:
Elymus sp. (wild rye grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reed grass)   Phragmites marsh

Ferns:
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)

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