Poses Property
Coleytown Road near Easton Road, Westport, Fairfield County, Connecticut

Directions:

Merritt Parkway north to exit 42; turn right onto Weston Road heading north; turn right onto Lyons Plains Road; turn/bear right onto Coleytown Road; pass by North Avenue; just before reaching East Road (Route 136) you will see a bridge over the Aspetuck River off to the left (north) side of the road between houses #94 and #100. Turn around at the intersection with Route 136 and park on the now right (north) side of the road by a small pull-off.  Walk back to the bridge.

Habitats:

large woods, stream

Facilities:

Walking trails, wood bridge

Trails:

11/07/2005.  We parked at the small, almost non-existent pull-off.  We walked back to the end of the wire guard rail; turned right and headed downhill a short ways to the foot bridge.  There is a sign saying Caution. Bridge Not Secure or something like that.  That would apply to cars or trucks we supposed, but not to foot traffic.  We found it sturdy enough. 

Supposedly, there are walking trails here.  We found them to be almost non-existent.  But we walked a loop trail anyway.  Headed north and northeast  along an old dirt road (so we figured).  Saw an abandoned log carrying trailer on the left.  Came to a big field on the left, so we turned left (west) and started walking through the field.  There are no evident trails.  We tried to pick the easiest route through the field.  (There are a lot of swamp dewberry trailers that would grab our feet at times in an attempt to trip us.)  We kept going until we reached the other side of the field where there are woods.  We were glad to get out of the field. 

We turned left.  Walking was easier in the woods.   We were heading southwest too far.  We realized the mistake when we were near the back yard of a house to the west of the house where we started our walk.  So we turned left and walked parallel to the backyards until we reached the main entrance road near the foot bridge.  On the way we passed through some wet areas.  There were some informal paths that we used in getting back to the bridge.  Headed back over the Aspetuck River and up to the road to a left turn and a walk back to the car.    Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney
* = plant blooming on date of field trip, 11/07/2005

Trees:
Acer platanoides (Norway maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Pyrus sp. (crab apple)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus bicolor (swamp white oak)
Quercus palustris (pin oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Taxus sp. (yew)
Tilia americana (American basswood)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)

Shrubs and sub-shrubs:
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepper bush)
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Cornus racemosa (gray dogwood)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel) *
Ilex verticillata (winterberry holly)
Lindera benzoin (spice bush)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow’s honeysuckle)
Lyonia ligustrina (maleberry)
Myrica pensylvanica (bayberry)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rosa palustris (swamp rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Spiraea alba var. latifolia (meadowsweet)
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Viburnum dentatum (arrowwood viburnum)

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Euonymus fortunii (Fortune's euonymus)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)

Herbs:
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Epilobium sp. (willowherb)
Euthamia graminifolia (grass-leaved goldenrod)
Iris sp. (blue or yellow flag)
Lycopus sp. (bugleweed)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed)
Rumex acetosella (sheep sorrel)
Solidago spp. (goldenrod)
Thalictrum pubescens (tall meadowrue)
Typha sp. (cattail)
Urtica dioica var. procera (tall nettle)

Rushes:
Juncus effusus (soft rush)

Sedges:
Carex sp. (Sedge)

Grasses:
Elymus sp. (wild rye grass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)
Schizachyrium scoparium (little blue stem grass)

Ferns:
Lycopodium obscurum (ground pine)
Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hay-scented fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Osmunda regalis (royal fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)

Back to the w. Connecticut Page
Back to the Main Page