Squantz Park (an arm of Candlewood Lake)

Pootatuck State Forest, New Fairfield, CT

Directions:

Take US 84 east to get off at exit 5 for Route 37 north; set odometer at 0; travel 7.1 miles to turn right onto Beaver Bog Road; drive 9.5 miles to the park entrance on the left. 

Or you can head north on Route 37 and turn north onto Route 39 in New Fairfield; drive 3.8 miles to the park entrance. Park in a designated area.

History:

Squantz was a chief of the Pootatuck Indians who lived in the area.

Lake Kenosia (originally named Mill Plain Pond and part of the Still River) was accessed by Danburyites by trolley. It provided a hotel, boat rides, swimming, and other amusements. It was destroyed by fire in 1926 and Danbury citizens flocked to the newly created Lake Candlewood. In 1948 a small section of the lake became a town park for the Danburyites.

Source: Danbury Museum and Historical Society, 2001

Facilities:

Squantz Pond has sandy beaches. There is also available fishing, boating, water skiing, picnicking, or hiking.

Habitats:

There are a number of streams splashing down several hundred feet from the mountain above to the pond. Lake and woods are still other habitats.

Trails:

From the west side, the main trail starts from the north end of the picnic area; it follows the edges of the pond’s western shoreline for 2 miles to a peninsula that juts out into the lake (and has an unobstructed view of the entire pond) . The pond is always visible, so there is no fear of getting lost.

A green trail travels north to Worden Brook and then head southwest (passing the northern end of the yellow trail) and turns to heads eastward to the southern part of the yellow trail which continues east to bring you back to the outgoing green trail. ( A shortcut can be had to shorten the green trail circular walk by taking the yellow trail south when it first appears.)

The white trail goes along the west shoreline of Squantz Pond to Pine Ledge. March 5, 2002 Michael St. John and I took this trail. There were no white markers. Some old reddish-brown markers could be seen still there. But the trail is easy enough to follow because it parallels the shoreline. It is mostly a hemlock area with quite a few rapidly flowing streams splashing down to the lake. There are also many interesting rock formations. A little less than half-way there is a nice open area and a rock on which you can stand and look back at the beach at Squantz Pond State Park. (Also along the way, a red-blazed trail comes down the steep grade from Pootatuck Mountain.)

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney; February 27, 2002 -- very, very brief stop; came back March 5, 2002 for a short hike

Trees:
Acer pensylvanicum (striped maple) lots
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Betula papyrifera (white birch)
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (musclewood)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Juniperus virginiana (red cedar)
Larix sp. (larch)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Picea sp. (Colorado blue spruce)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Populus grandidentata (big-toothed aspen)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus prinus (chestnut oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)

Shrubs:
Chimaphila maculata (spotted wintergreen)
Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepperbush)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Kalmia latifolia (mountain laurel)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Rosa multiflora (multiflora rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry)
Rubus phoenicolasius (wineberry)
Viburnum sp. (viburnum)

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

Herbs:
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)
Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)
Epifagus virginiana (beech drops)
Galium sp. (bedstraw)
Monotropa uniflora (Indian pipe)
Rumex crispus (crisped-leaved dock)
Rumex obtusifolius (broad-leaved dock)
Solidago spp. (goldenrod)
Typha sp. (cattail) *
Verbascum thapsus (common mullein)

Sedges:
Carex laxiflora type (sedge)
Carex stricta (tussock sedge)
Scirpus sp. (bulrush) *

Grasses:
Setaria sp. (foxtail grass)

Ferns:
Dryopteris sp. (woodfern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Polypodium sp. (rock cap fern) lots
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern) lots

Others:
liverworts
Najas flexilis *
Najas minor *


* An aquatic survey of Squantz Pond published in 1988. Conn Dept. of Environmental Protection; http://dep.state.ct.us/cgnhs/lakes/squantz/lake.htm

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