Mount Bushnell State Park
New Preston area, Washington, Litchfield County, CT

Directions:

Saw Mill River Parkway north to US 684 north to US 84 west; exit 7 for Route 7 north (set the odometer at 0); at 11.8 miles turn right onto US 202/Bridge Street in New Milford; at 20.0 miles turn left onto Route 45 north; at 20.6 turn left onto West Shore Road (that heads along the east shore of Lake Waramaug); at 20.7 turn left onto Tinker Hill Road; go to its end. You can park here but there is no clear parking area. There is a blue dot trail (probably abandoned) that leads up the hill.

Or you can continue 1.5 miles north on Tinker Hill Road to make a left turn onto Loomarwick Road; at a T-intersection turn left and in .2 of a mile there is a small pull-off area. We saw the blue dot up here on the top of the hill. There are no clear trails that we could see. (Back at the T-intersection, you can't really turn right because the road is too rough (unless you have a truck).

There is a Nature Conservancy sign near the corner of Route 45 and Tinker Hill Road. Maybe that organization has taken over a southern, smaller portion also called Mount Bushnell State Park at one time.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney, March 2, 2002

Trees:
Acer pensylvanicum (goosefoot maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Carya tomentosa (mockernut hickory)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Picea sp. (spruce)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Chimaphila maculata (spotted wintergreen)
Vaccinium sp. (low-bush blueberry)

Vines:
Vitis sp. (grape)

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

Ferns and Fern Allies:
Lycopodium obscurum (ground pine clubmoss)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)

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