Paine Open Space

Maple Road, Easton, Fairfield County, Connecticut

Directions:

Merritt Parkway north for about 27 miles to exit 45; turn right onto Black Rock Turnpike (Route 58); drive north around 3.5 to make a right turn onto Westport Road (Route 136); keep heading straight and Westport Road will head into Stepney Road (Route 59).  Follow Stepney Road to a left turn onto Judd Road; turn left onto Maple Road.

There are three entrances to Paine Open Space on Maple Road:

1) drive 0.2 of a mile and there is a small pull-off on the right across from house #165 (this is not the best of places to park since the pull-off is small and the danger of being struck by another car is higher);

2) drive down Maple Avenue for about 0.5 of a mile and turn right; this is main Main Entrance.  (The Pond View and Island Pond Preserves are closest to this entrance.)

3)  drive down Maple Avenue for 0.8 of a mile and turn right into the parking area (before reaching house #220).   

Less confusing directions (from Tom Ebersold, AMC hike leader):

Take the Merritt Pkwy. to Rt. 25 North (Exit 49A). At the traffic lights by Rt. 111, continue north to Rt. 59. Left on Rt. 59 South for 1.2 miles. Right on Maple Drive (shortly past April Drive) and go 1 mile. Right into the main entrance (easy to miss because the sign is small).

These directions also hold true for the Island Pond Preserve and the Pond View Preserve.

A map is available at www.aspetucklandtrust.org. No maps are available at the preserve. Note that trail colors on the map do not match the poorly marked trail colors on the trails.
 

Trails:

9/23/2005.  On a warm day Ceferino Santana, dog Sonar and I parked at the third parking area listed above.  Off to the right from the parking area we could see a very attractive pond.  We did not know if it was private property or not, but it was worth the risk of a little trespassing to find out.  We walked over to the pond  to notice it had a bit of a manufactured look: mowed trail around the pond, a nice looking gazebo and a little boat dock.  We turned right and started walking around the pond.  I was constantly looking for No Trespassing signs, but did not see any.  But we decided to turn back when we saw that the gazebo had a very private look to it. 

We returned to the parking area.  We noticed a small pond on the left and so we walked around that pond (with a great deal of difficulty as it was heavily vegetated).  Since the woods don't have much in bloom at this time, we decided not to walk the woods trails.  Maybe next spring.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney

*  =  plants blooming on field trip, 9/23/2005

Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Betula papyrifera (white birch)
Carya cordiformis (bitternut hickory)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Pyrus malus (apple)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Salix sp. (willow)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)

Shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Chimaphila maculata (striped wintergreen)
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Ilex verticillata (winterberry holly)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush) 
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Myrica pensylvanica (bayberry)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus hispidus (swamp dewberry)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaf viburnum)

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

Herbs:
Actaea sp. (baneberry)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Amphicarpaea bracteata (hog peanut)
Arisaema triphyllum (Jack in the pulpit)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Aster divaricatus (white wood aster)     *
Aster spp. (small white aster)     *
Bidens frondosa (beggar ticks)     *
Boehmeria cylindrica (false nettle)
Centaurea nigra (black knapweed)     *
Chelone glabra (white turtlehead)     *
Circaea lutetiana (enchanter's nightshade)
Dianthus armeria (Deptford pink)
Eupatorium fistulosum (trumpetweed)
Geranium maculatum (wild geranium)
Hieracium paniculatum (panicled hawkweed)    
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed)     *
Iris sp. (blue or yellow flag)
Maianthemum canadense (Canada mayflower)
Medeola virginiana (cucumberroot)
Pilea pumila (clearweed)
Polygonum arifolium (halberd-leaved tearthumb)     *
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed)     *
Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil)
Prunella vulgaris (self-heal)
Satureja vulgaris (wild basil)
Solidago caesia (blue-stem goldenrod)     *
Solidago rugosa (rough-leaved goldenrod)     *
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Thalictrum pubescens (tall meadowrue)
Veronica officinalis  (common speedwell)
Viola sp. (violet)
(water lily)

Sedges:
Carex laxiflora type (loose-flowered type sedge)

Grasses:
Leersia virginica (white grass)
Phragmites australis (common reedgrass)
Tridens flavus (purple-top grass)

Ferns:
Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hay-scented fern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Osmunda regalis (royal fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)
Thelypteris palustris (marsh fern)

Others:
Sphagnum sp. (sphagnum)

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