Saugatuck Falls Natural Area
Route 53, Redding, Fairfield County, CT
312.4 acres

Directions:

Heading north on Route 7 turn left onto Route 107. Drive 2.6 miles to the intersection with Route 53. Drive 0.9 of a mile and park in the parking lot of the John Read Middle School. The park entrance is across the street.

History:

A cooperative project of Redding, the State of Connecticut, and the U.S. Department of H.U.D.

1968  --  town buys the property with federal and state aid. 

Habitats:
woods, marsh, small ponds, river

Trails:

There are 5.8 miles of trails. The trails are accessible to the handicapped. The main trail also hooks up with the Dan Beard Tail across Route 53 and a little south. 

There is a bridge over the Saugatuck River. Off the main trail the Falls Trails is on the right (west). The Old Field Trail is on the right (east). Heading further on the main trail, once again the Old Field Trail comes up on the left. It is a circular walk in this part of the natural area.

The Saugatuck Falls trails follows the river until it reaches the falls (falling through a narrow gorge in the rocks). It is a pretty walk. The rocks on the cliffs on the left have tumbled down on top of each other leaving little caves everywhere. Beautiful shades of green are created by the green moss and the many species of ferns, especially rock cap fern.

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney, 3/11/02 & 4/03/02 (supplements from Book of Trails, III); 7/31/02

Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple) 4/03/02
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Betula alleghaniensis (yellow birch)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Fraxinus nigra (black ash)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar) lots in the fields
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine)
Populus sp. (aspen)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Pyrus sp. (crab apple)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)

Shrubs:
Alnus serrulata (smooth alder)
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry) way too much of it
Cephalanthus occidentalis (buttonbush)
Chimaphila maculata (spotted wintergreen)
Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepperbush)
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Cornus racemosa (gray dogwood)
Decodon verticillatus (swamp loosestrife)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus) lots
Ilex verticillata (winterberry holly)
Kalmia latifolia (mountain laurel)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Rhus sp. (sumac)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Spiraea alba var. latifolia (meadowsweet)
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Viburnum dentatum (smooth arrowwood viburnum)

Vines:
Amphicarpaea bracteata (hog peanut)
Apios americana (groundnut)
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Cuscuta sp. (dodder)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Mikania scandens (climbing hempweed)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis sp. (grape)

Herbs:
Agrimonia gryposepala (agrimony) 7/31/02
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard) 7/31/02
Anemone virginiana (thimbleweed
Anemonella thalictroides (rue anemone)
Arctium minus (common burdock) 7/31/02
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Boehmeria cylindrica (false nettle)
Callitriche sp. (water starwort)
Caltha palustris (marsh marigold)
Chrysosplenium americanum (golden saxifrage)
Circaea lutetiana (enchanter's nightshade)
Desmodium glutinosum (pointed-leaved tick trefoil) 7/31/02
Erigeron annuus (daisy fleabane) 7/31/02
Erythronium americanum (trout lily)
Galium asprellum (rough bedstraw) 7/31/02
Geum canadense (white avens)
Goodyera pubescens (downy rattlesnake plantain)
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed) 7/31/02
Lobelia cardinals (cardinal flower) 7/31/02
Ludwigia palustris (water purslane)
Lysimachia ciliata (fringed loosestrife) 7/31/02
Lysimachia nummularia (moneywort)
Lysimachia terrestris (swamp candles)
Mentha arvensis (wild mint) 7/31/02
Myosotis scorpioides (larger forget me nots) 7/31/02
Nuphar variegata (spatterdock) 7/31/02
Nymphaea odorata (fragrant white water lily) 7/31/02
Peltandra virginica (arrow arum)
Penthorum sedoides (ditch stonecrop) 7/31/02
Phryma leptostachya (lopseed) 7/31/02
Plantago major (common plantain)
Polygonum cespitosum (cespitose smartweed) 7/31/02
Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed) 7/31/02
Pontederia cordata (pickerelweed) 7/31/02
Ranunculus sp. (swamp buttercup)?
Rumex crispus (curled dock)
Saururus cernuus (lizard's tail) 7/31/02
Satureja vulgaris (wild basil) 7/31/02
Scutellaria lateriflora (maddog skullcap) 7/31/02
Smilacina racemosa (false Solomon's seal)
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion)
Trillium erectum (red trillium)
Typha latifolia (broad-leaved cattail)
Verbena hastata (blue vervain) 7/31/02
Verbena urticifolia (white vervain) 7/31/02
Veronica officinalis (common speedwell)

Rushes:
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Sedges:
Carex intumescens (sedge)
Carex laxiflora type (sedge)
Carex lurida (sallow sedge)
Carex stricta (tussock sedge)
Carex vulpinoidea (fox sedge)
Cyperus strigosus (umbrella sedge)?
Dulichium arundinaceum (three-way sedge)
Scirpus acuminatus (soft-stemmed bulrush)
Scirpus atrovirens (dark-green bulrush)
Scirpus cyperinus (woolly grass bulrush)

Grasses:
Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass)
Elymus virginicus (Virginia wild rye grass)
Leersia virginica (white grass)
Phalaris arundinacea (canary reed grass)
Poa compressa (Canada bluegrass)

Ferns and Fern Allies:
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Dryopteris marginalis (marginal woodfern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Osmunda regalis (royal fern)
Polypodium sp. (rock cap fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)
Thelypteris palustris (marsh fern)

Source:
http://www.historyofredding.com/HRhiking.htm

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