Short Beach Park
Dorne Drive, Stratford, Fairfield County, Connecticut

Directions:

From I95 Southbound: Take exit 31. Make a left and go under the bridge.  Continue straight until you get to Main Street. Make a right to main Street  and follow Main Street 1-2 miles. After you past the hangers at the airport on your right and then the landing strips you will make the next Left onto Short Beach Rd. Go straight in and we will be at either the playground or the beach just in front of the play ground.

From I95 Northbound: Take exit 30. Bear right as you come off the ramp. Go Straight. Follow Lordship Blvd. about 1 mile. Then it will become Access Road continue straight until Main Street. (Cricket hot-dog stand will be on the right) Make a right on to Main Street. After you past the hangers at the airport on your right and then the landing strips you will make the next Left onto Short Beach Rd. Go straight in and we will be at either the playground or the beach just in front of the play ground.

Facilities:

basket ball courts, tennis courts, ballfields, playground, beach, restroom, picnic tables, skateboarding park, volleyball, concession stand

There are two private golf clubs and a public par-3 course at Short Beach.

Source:

http://borntoexplore.org/bc/playground.htm

Trails:

11/26/2005.  On a cold, overcast morning, Rosemary Cooney, Sarah-David Rosenbaum, Ceferino Santana, dog Sonar and I parked at the parking lot by the beach.  Short Beach may be short in width, but it is rather long.  We walked north and then back in the sandy areas to get a plant list.  I thought the beach was o.k. but Rosemary and Sarah-David waxed eloquent about the beauty of the place.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney. 

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney and Sarah-David Rosenbaum

*  =  plants blooming on field trip, 9/10/2005

Trees:
Ailanthus altissima (tree-of-heaven)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Pinus thunbergii (Japanese black pine)
Ulmus pumila (Siberian elm)

Shrubs:
Lonicera morrowii (Morrow's honeysuckle)
Myrica pensylvanica (bayberry)
Rhus glabra (smooth sumac)
Rhus typhina (staghorn sumac)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rosa rugosa (wrinkled rose)   

Vines:
Celastrus orbiculatus (Asiatic bittersweet)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)

Herbs:
Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed)
Centaurea maculosa (spotted knapweed)
Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace)   
Gnaphalium obtusifolium (sweet everlasting)   
Lechea sp. (pinweed)
Lepidium virginicum (poor man's pepper)
Linaria vulgaris (butter and eggs)
Oenothera biennis (common evening primrose)   
Plantago lanceolata (English plantain)
Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed)    
Potentilla sp. (cinquefoil)
Rumex crispus (curled dock)
Salsola kali (common saltwort)
Saponaria officinalis (bouncing bet)   
Solidago sempervirens (salt marsh goldenrod)
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein)
Xanthium strumarium (clotbur)

Grasses:
Ammophila breviligulata (beach grass)
Phragmites australis (giant reedgrass)
Spartina alterniflora (salt marsh cordgrass)

Sedges:
Cyperus sp. (sedge)
 

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