Stewart Woods
Nell's Rock Road, Shelton, Fairfield County, Connecticut

Directions:

Merritt Parkway north to Exit 51; turn left on Route 108 (Huntington Turnpike); cross from the Town of Trumbull into the Town of Shelton; head into Huntington, still following Route 108; continue east to a right turn onto Nell's Rock Road; turn right into the park entrance.

History:

2001  --  Joshua Liposk made the trail maps at the kiosk as part of  an Eagle Scout project.

Habitats:

pine forest, lake, marsh

Trails:   (map)

Oak Valley Trail  =  white-blazed
Nell's Trail           =  white-blazed
Turkey Trot Trail  =  blue-blazed
Recreation Path   =  yellow-blazed

Park in the gravel lot. At the kiosk go left onto the white-blazed Oak Valley trail. Cross over two plank bridges. Pass by the intersection with the orange trail, continuing on the white trail walking over another plank bridge. Reach the field where the trail splits. Continue on the white trail toward the power lines on the right. Still following the white trail, pass by the intersection with the yellow trail.  Walk through the opening in the stone wall on the right.

Follow the white trail until it intersects with the orange trail, that will take you to the lake. Walk the backside of the lake, through the pine forest, and pass the open lake view.    To return to your car, at the intersection with the white trail, take the white trail.

Or: 

To make a loop around the lake stay on the orange trail.    Then take the white trail back to your car.

(Shortened from http://www.letterboxing.org/BoxView.asp?boxnum=11054&boxname=Holiday_Spirit_series)

John Dominick Trail:

From the main parking lot, head west to take either the right or left fork in the trail (it forms an ellipse) to make a left turn and head generally southwest to John Dominick Drive (off Buddington Road).

9/30/2005.  On a cold morning (the first one that called for more than just a long-sleeved shirt), Ceferino Santana, dog Sonar and I took a short walk in the Park.  Parked at the main parking lot for Stewart Woods.  Hope Lake is directly in front of the cars.  We decided to walk around a bit of the lake.  (Unfortunately, one cannot walk completely around the lake, the north side being blocked off.) 

The area is very pretty.  White pines dominate and the ground is covered with their needles. It is a little tough to walk along the lake because the trail is filled with rocks and exposed white pine roots.  On the other side of the lake the path is really narrow, squeezed between an uphill slope on the left and the lake on the right. Along the lake there is some good botanizing areas, notably in the marshy areas. 

We started out on the white trail, then went onto the white and orange trail, and then to just orange. 

When I saw that the vegetation on the other side of the lake being the same habitat, we just turned around and returned to the car.  Dr. Patrick L. Cooney.  

PLANT LIST:
Dr. Patrick L. Cooney

*  =  plants blooming on field trip, 9/30/2005

Trees:
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Betula lenta (black birch)
Betula populifolia (gray birch)
Carya sp. (hickory)
Fagus grandifolia (American beech)
Ilex aquifolium (English holly)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Pinus strobus (white pine)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus prinus (chestnut oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)

Shrubs:
Aronia x prunifolia (purple chokeberry)
Cephalanthus occidentalis (button bush)
Chimaphila maculata (striped wintergreen)
Clethra alnifolia (sweet pepperbush)
Decodon verticillatus (swamp loosestrife)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Ilex verticillata (winterberry holly)
Kalmia latifolia (mountain laurel)
Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)
Rubus hispidus (swamp dewberry)
Rubus sp. (blackberry)
Spiraea tomentosa (steeplebush)
Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple-leaf viburnum)

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

Herbs:
Aster divaricatus (white wood aster)     *
Aster novi-belgii (New York aster)     *
Bidens connata (swamp beggar ticks)     *
Bidens frondosa (beggar ticks)       *
Eupatorium perfoliatum (boneset)
Euthamia tenuifolia (slender-leaved goldenrod)     *
Impatiens capensis (orange jewelweed)     *
Iris sp. (blue or yellow flag)
Ludwigia alternifolia (seedbox)
Ludwigia palustris (water purslane)
Lycopus sp. (bugleweed)
Maianthemum canadense (Canada mayflower)
Oxalis sp. (yellow wood sorrel)
Peltandra virginica (arrow arum)
Polygonatum sp. (true Solomon's seal)
Polygonum arifolium (halberd-leaved tearthumb)
Polygonum sagittatum (arrow-leaved tearthumb)
Polygonum sp. (smartweed)     *
Sparganium sp. (burreed)
Spiranthes cernua (nodding ladies' tresses)     *
Triadenum virginicum (marsh St. Johnswort)

Rushes:
Juncus canadensis (Canada rush)
Juncus tenuis (path rush)

Sedges:
Dulichium arundinaceum (three-way sedge)
Eleocharis sp. (spike rush)
Scirpus cyperinus (woolly grass bulrush)

Grasses:
Brachyelytrum erectum (long-awn wood grass)
Glyceria sp. (mannagrass)
Panicum clandestinum (deer-tongue grass)

Ferns:
Lycopodium obscurum (ground pine)
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hay-scented fern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Thelypteris noveboracensis (New York fern)
Thelypteris palustris (marsh fern)

Others:
Sphagnum sp. (sphagnum)

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