Fun with Lidar Maps

Birchbank Mountain

Here are some fun LIDAR maps courtesy of the City's GIS mapping system. They show both "hill shade" and false colors that correlate to the elevations. LIDAR penetrates tree cover to show you what the ground looks like. The first map is Birchbank Mountain. At the base of the slope along the Housatonic River you can see the oval groundwater recharge ponds owned by the Aquarion Water Company.  The white dashed line is Birchbank Trail, a moderate "lollipop loop" trail that does a circle around Upper White Hills Brook. The blue trail is the Paugussett "Blue Dot" Trail, which follows the riverbank just below the top. The aqua colored trail on the map is the blue/white connector.

Willis Woods and Nicholdale Farm

The second map shows the trails at Nicholdale Farm and Willis Woods on either side of Leavenworth Road (Rt 110). The trails are generally on the lowlands near Means Brook. Only the red-blazed Willis Trail has any real elevation to it. The swamp and stream crossed by Stockmal Trail are pretty obvious, and the trail ends abruptly at Means Brook (someday we hope for a bridge to cross to open space on the other side).

Rec Path from Huntington Center to Oak Valley Road

Lastly we have the Rec Path from Huntington Center to Wesley Drive and Oak Valley Road. It's a little hard to see on the map (click the map to enlarge). Anyone who has tried to bike this route comes to realize pretty quickly just how much of a hole Huntington Center is in, because it's all up hill until you reach the upper Wesley Drive crossing. This map also shows the ledges of the Nells Rock area (originally called "Knell's Rocks", probably as a joke Mr. Knell had to endure). These are mostly in white on the map. The ledge/swamp/ledge/swamp terrain of this area is why it was little farmed or settled and is now open space. The Paugussett Trail is also shown on the map as it heads north from Buddington Road.