Samuel P. Senior Memorial Park

Center 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 for 3.8 miles; at the intersection with Redding Road you will bear right (passing by Toth Memorial Park); drive 1.0 mile to a right turn onto Center Road; drive 1.3 miles and park at the Town Hall; the Park is across from Town Hall. 

Update from Tom Ebersold (AMC Hike Leader):

The state of Connecticut reconfigured this interchange. There is no Exit 45 anymore. It's Exit 44 for either direction. I think it's now a left turn to head north on Rt. 58. I would simply tell people to take Rt. 58 North. You will need to update any directions that you label as Exit 45.
 

History:

1963  -- park established. 

Trails:

9/23/2005.  On a warm day, Ceferino Santana, dog Sonar and I parked at the Town Hall.  We crossed the street and entered the Park. One can start the walk by going right or left.  We went to the right.  The Park is basically wetlands in the center surrounded by woods.  One can walk a loop trail around the wetlands or use the many boardwalks through the wetlands to make a figure-8 or possibly other figures. 

We walked north; crossed a small bridge over a dried-up stream; on the right was a small pond; passed an outdoor classroom set-up on the right; entered the raised boardwalk.  This is a better way to get access to wetlands.  We came across a larger pond with a small island in the center of the pond. 

I can't exactly say where we went because we went back and forth using the boardwalks, sometimes going back and forth on the same boardwalk.  All I knew is that I wanted to return to the starting point from the point opposite of where we started and I was able to do that without too much trouble. 

This is a nice walk if one is interested in swampy areas.  The raised boardwalk is the highlight.  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 alleghaniensis (yellow birch)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya cordiformis (bitternut hickory)
Carya tomentosa (mockernut hickory)
Castanea dentata (American chestnut)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Ilex aquifolium (English holly)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)
Ulmus rubra (slippery elm)

Shrubs:
Alnus serrulata (smooth alder)
Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry)
Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepperbush)
Cornus amomum (swamp dogwood)
Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive)
Euonymus alatus (winged euonymus)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Ilex verticillata (winterberry holly)
Kalmia latifolia (mountain laurel)
Leucothoe sp. (leucothoe)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)  -- lots of it
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Pachysandra terminalis (pachysandra)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Sambucus canadensis (common elderberry)
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Vaccinium pallidum (hillside blueberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaf viburnum)
Viburnum dentatum (arrowwood viburnum) 
Viburnum lentago (nannyberry viburnum)

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Smilax rotundifolia (round-leaved greenbrier)
Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy)
Vitis labrusca (fox grape)

Herbs:
Actaea alba (white 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 connata (swamp beggar ticks)     *
Boehmeria cylindrica (false nettle)
Chelone glabra (white turtlehead)     *
Hydrocotyle umbellata (water pennywort)
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed)     *
Iris sp. (blue or yellow flag)
Lemna sp. (duckweed)
Lycopus sp. (bugleweed)
Maianthemum canadense (Canada mayflower)
Pilea pumila (clearweed)
Polygonatum sp. (true Solomon's seal)
Polygonum arifolium (halberd-leaved tearthumb)
Polygonum spp. (smartweed)     *
Polygonum virginianum (jumpseed)
Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil)
Ranunculus sp. (buttercup)
Rumex sp. (dock)
Solidago rugosa (rough-leaved goldenrod)     *
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage)
Thalictrum pubescens (tall meadowrue)
Urtica dioica var. dioica (stinging nettle)

Sedges:
Carex laxiflora type (loose-flowered type sedge)
Carex lurida (sallow sedge)
Carex stricta (tussock sedge)

Grasses:
Glyceria sp. (mannagrass)
Leersia virginica (white grass)

Ferns:
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
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)

Others:
Sphagnum sp. (sphagnum)

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