Let's Talk About Stiltgrass

Japanese Stiltgrass 
(and a Spotted Lanternfly)
Shelton Dogpark

We have a lot of invasive species in Connecticut, but there is one in particular that is spread by hikers: Japanese Stiltgrass. This is an annual grass that explodes late in the season, releasing countless seeds, and then dies when there's a freeze. The seeds stick to people's hiking boots and are carried down the trail, where they germinate the following year. The hiking trail becomes a conduit for this invasive species to spread into new lands. At first the stiltgrass just grows along the edges of the trail, but eventually it begins to take over and spread into the woods.

Japanese Stiltgrass is easiest to identify by a shiny stripe down the center of the leaves, although this isn't always apparent and the grass can be confused with a few native perennial grasses. Late in the season, the grass grows "stilts" along it's lower stem that give the plants it's name. 

This "gator lane" at Wiacek Meadows was overrun with
 stiltgrass that was knee-high and still growing 

Why does it matter to a hiker? Japanese Stiltgrass interferes with the trail. This invasive plant can grow in all sorts of conditions, including shady and dry areas, but when it has some damp sunlight it explodes in late summer.  I've seen it grow to chest height, although it's more often 2-3 feet tall. And it's probably not getting cut, because trail volunteers are done cutting vegetation for the season. 

Stiltgrass monoculture along the Virginia Appalachian Trail

I backpacked a section of the Virginia Appalachian Trail in September and many miles were more difficult by all the stiltgrass (thru hikers of the A.T. do not experience that problem because the stiltgrass is just beginning to germinate as they come through in the Spring).  It's hard to dodge all the roots and rocks in the trail when they're obscured by vegetation. Stepping stones and bogwalks were covered hard to see, and everything was wet and slick in that tangle of grass. I had to slow down. My shoes got soaked. This went on for many miles. In dryer locations, the stiltgrass was much shorter and better behaved, but as soon as there was enough moisture, the grass was a problem for hiking. 

Stepping stones covered in Stiltgrass
(Appalachian Trail Sept 2026)

And that was a heavily-used trail where countless hikers' steps had crushed the plant and maintained a treadway. For trails like French's Hill and sections of the Paugussett, the treadway may vanish in August and September. 

Stiltgrass invasion along the Paugussett at
Wiacek Meadows early in the season
(The trail had been string-trimmed)

Control is by removing or cutting the plant before it goes to seed, and it needs to be done consistently for maybe 4-5 years when the seedbed is exhausted.  Pulling isolated plants and using a string trimmer to cut mature plants at ground level just before it goes to seed were the primary methods of removal. At Shelton, that was only done at Birchbank and Indian Well because it was so labor intensive. 

Young stiltgrass among other plant species that still survive
in a newly infested area, stiltgrass beginning to die back after
application of herbicide

In 2026, we tried something new, which is the application of an herbicide called Acclaim Extra. This herbicide is designed to kill only a few annual grasses and not harm other plants. Several trails were spot-sprayed in July and August, including parts of the Paugussett north of Independence Drive along with the trails at French's Hill. These were all sections of trails where the stiltgrass had been invading and expanding quite rapidly the past few years. 

These Christmas Ferns along the Paugussett Trail had
been overrun with stiltgrass prior to herbicide application

This worked great! The other plant species were unaffected by the herbicide and it was nice to see them thriving after the stiltgrass began to die back. 

Native plants, includes sedges and native grasses, 
after application of herbicide for stiltgrass

The good news is that after a few years, the need for herbicide treatments should subside as the seed bank is depleted. 

Another means of control is through competition and suppression of seed germination. The herbicide allows other species to compete. But it's also important not to cut back competing vegetation to the ground level, because that allows the stiltgrass to easily germinate and grow quickly (true of other invasives as well!). 

America250 Paugussett Trail Timeline

"The Great Depression" blurb at Indian Well

For America's 250th birthday celebration, we've turned an 8-mile section of the Paugussett Trail into a walkable timeline of U.S. and local colonial history. 

The idea began where the trail crosses Independence Drive and then Constitution Blvd North. What if that section of trail was turned into a timeline between 1776 and 1789?  And then we extrapolated further along the trail in both directions at that scale. The trailhead at Buddington Road would be about the time the Puritans first settled this area, and the far end of Birchbank Mountain at Round Hill Road would be 2026.  Perfect! So that's our timeline. Each year is about 114 feet.

There are now over 40 laminated history blurbs posted along the trail. They can only be seen if you are going northbound. We are not historians and the purpose of the timeline is not to provide a full history. It's to give a sense of scale. Of time passing. There are stretches of trail, especially the first part, where you can walk a long time without seeing much history. That's because nothing particularly memorable was happening. People were just living their lives, raising their families. But then something happens out of nowhere. As you're walking down the trail, you won't know quite what to expect.  You're just walking along and suddenly it's World War I.  

How to read trail blazes

Note that the Paugussett Trail is our most challenging hiking trail in Shelton.  Most of it is actually pretty easy, but you should know how to follow the blue trail markings (pay attention!) and be prepared for uneven footing and unimproved stream crossings. The section that crosses Burritt's Rocks at Indian Well & Birchbank is difficult and not recommended when wet. 

Resources (south to north):
Overview of the Paugussett Trail
Shelton Lakes Map (Paugussett Trail shown as blue dashed line)
Housatonic Woods Map
Tahmore Preserve & Indian Well State Park
Birchbank Mountain
Custom Google Map (showing our trails and parking areas)

TRAIL GUIDE:  Before you begin your 8-mile journey, some context. Imagine you have been walking this trail since the first humans arrived in this place.  Using the scale of our timeline, how many miles would you have been walking? The answer is over 200 miles, all of it Native American history! The past mile or two there would have been some mysterious plagues that decimated the Paugussett population. And then the Puritans arrive in 1937....

1. Buddington Road (1637) to the Dog Park (1740). This section is all local colonial history.  At Buddington Road, be sure to back into the parking lot. There are some rocky sections early on. When you come to the junction of Nells Rock Trail (marked white), carefully follow the blue blazes to the left and then to the right. When there are two offset blazes of the same color, the higher blaze indicates the direction of a turn. The trail will then come to a series of trail junctions and cross Oak Valley Road at Eklund Garden, so keep an eye on those blue blazes. GPS: Use 179 Buddington Road and 316 Nells Rock Road. 

Overview Map

2. Dog Park (1740) to Independence Drive (1776). This section is the lead-up to the American Revolution. The Paugussett Trail is co-aligned with the Rec Path for awhile. You'll cross Shelton Ave at the crosswalk, and follow the Rec Path along Silent Waters. After leaving the old dam, watch for a left turn off the Rec Path. The trail soon splits, then splits again, before coming out to the powerlines, where you take a right. There is nothing to paint, so don't expect blue blazes. Follow the gravel utility road down the hill to Independence Drive and 1776. You can park along the street there. GPS: Use 316 Nells Rock Road and 81 Independence Drive. 

3. Independence Drive (1776)  to Meadow Street/Mayflower Lane (1814). The first part is known as the "Indy Link" and it has some rocks and roots in the woods. You'll come out along the powerlines for a bit. At Wellington Drive you should see the trail continue a bit to the left. At Constitution Blvd it goes up the gravel utility road to the gate and then into the woods. Lots of trail improvements in this section. At Meadow Street you will cross the road and walk down Mayflower Lane, keeping left at the split. Find the trail at the end of the cul-de-sac. GPS: Use 81 Independence Drive and 38 Mayflower Lane. 

4. Mayflower Lane (1814) to Indian Well Beach (1906). This includes Housatonic Woods and part of Indian Well, covering much of the 1800s. It's all downhill from Mayflower to the Falls at Indian Well. A few rocky spots and brook crossings but not too bad. USE CAUTION CROSSING RT 110.  You'll drop down away from the highway pretty quickly to a surprisingly quiet part of the state park. When you come out of the woods, follow the paved old drive out to the Falls Parking Area (closed the past few years), cross Indian Well Road towards the falls, then take a right to cross Indian Hole Brook. If the water is high, you can use the road bridge instead. There are no history blurbs in this next section, which gets very busy. Follow blue all the way to the stop of the hill (not steep, but long). Take a 250-foot detour to the Housatonic Overlook. Seriously, do it. Return and follow the blue blazes left then right. When you come to a junction with a white trail heading downhill, that is the trail down to the beach, a good place to park. Note: There is no cell phone signal as you descend to the parking lot, but as you climb higher the signal gets better. GPS: Use 38 Mayflower Lane. The beach at Indian Well has no address. 

5. Indian Well Beach (1906) to Round Hill Road (2026).  This is the hardest section, covering WWI to the present day. Not recommended after a rain due to slick rock.  If you parked down by the beach, you'll go up what's left of 50 steps and turn right onto the blue trail. The first half mile is easy. Then you'll cross "Blowdown Brook" and start going up "Hickory Hill." Up up up. It will start getting rockier as the trail does its best to get around Burritt's Rocks. When you get to the next brook, that is the border between Indian Well State Park and the City of Shelton's Birchbank Mountain Preserve. Go up the hill and come to the boulder scramble. It's not long, but you'll need to use your hands.  After a short reprieve you'll come to a collection of huge boulders. ****TAKE BURRITT'S BYPASS TRAIL**** in this direction in order to avoid going steeply downhill on slick boulder slabs.  There are signs. The trail is marked with blue/green blazes.  (If you come back this way, return on the blue trail, it's perfectly fine going uphill). Burritt's Rocks comes to an end. Rejoin blue and continue to the Birchbank overlook. 

Go down the hill and follow the blue blazes to cross Upper White Hills Brook on stepping stones near an old chimney. Not recommended after heavy rain. Cut across the white-blazed Birchbank Trail carefully and continue to the junction of Round Hill Road and Okenuck Way, where there is space for several cars. GPS: Use 28 Round Hill Road. 

MacDermid Alpha Employees Help out Birchbank

MacDermid Alpha employees at Birchbank

Employees from MacDermid Alpha Electronic Solutions took an Earth Day break from their normal routine to lend a hand at Birchbank Mountain. They pulled thousands of invasive Garlic Mustard plants, removed a dilapidated deer exclosure, and rebuilt a bridge approach that washed out in the big 2024 storm.

Rolling up the old deer exclosure fencing

The deer exclosure had done its job of demonstrating the impact of deer browsing, and some of the trees holding up  the fencing had fallen, so it was time to go. The hardest part about removing it was probably rolling up the fencing and dealing with all the wire.

What not to step on...Trillium and Dutchman's Breeches

But the main item on the agenda was pulling Garlic Mustard. Left unchecked, this invasive plant crowds out native plants and even emits a chemical that inhibits those natives. It also intrudes into our trails. The natives here include an assemblage of uncommon species for southwest Connecticut, including Dutchman's Breeches, Trillium, Cutleaf Toothwort, and others.  The tricky part was not to step on those plants while pulling the Garlic Mustard.

Garlic Mustard last year along the
Paugussett Trail at Indian Well

The only long-term way to control Garlic Mustard is to pull it out every spring before it can go to seed, and to do that every single year for about ten years. Eventually the seed bank is depleted. This has already occurred in the areas that were first addressed several years ago on the hillside near the parking lot. There was very little Garlic Mustard in that area this year. 

Pulling up the young Garlic Mustard was tedious work

Lunch along the cascades of Upper White Hills Brook

After a cold, damp morning pulling invasives, the crew took a lunch break along the cascades of Upper White Hills Brook. Some were then game to hike up to the Housatonic Overlook. 

Some of the crew hiked up to the overlook after eating

Another task that was completed was repairing the washout to the approach for a Scout bridge. The washout happen in 2024 during the big floods centered around Oxford. The north tip of Shelton receive between 10 and 14 inches of rain. At Birchbank, the trail bridges survived, but the brook jumped its bank and scoured the area around the bridge. Someone had stacked some stones to help out, but the rocks jiggled when you stepped on them. The approach was built back up with rocks, sand, and gravel and is much easier to walk on now. 

Washout repaired

 

Mayapple transplanted this year from Eklund Garden

After the work party, I headed back to the bridge to check out the work they had done. It was so nice to walk down the trail past the hillside now freed from Garlic Mustard and I was happy that the old deer exclosure was gone. A lot got done on Earth Day 2026! Many thanks to everyone who helped out from MacDermid Alpha! 

Addressing Rogue Trails

Unauthorized trails can lead to confusion.
Which is the correct pathway?

Experienced hikers are ever mindful to follow the trail markings lest they accidentally turn off on some  trail that isn't really supposed to be there. We've all done it. Some avid hikers I know accidentally veered into a labyrinth of mountain bike trails, couldn't find a way out, and had to call 911 for a rescue.  Most of our trail users in Shelton are not experienced hikers, though. They tend to just follow whatever treadway is in front of them.  If the main trail bends and a newish rogue trail goes straight, they'll follow the rogue trail.  Here are two examples that were addressed in Shelton over the past week, demonstrating not just the confusion by trail users, but the extra hours that trail maintainers have to put in to address the issue. There are real reasons why unauthorized trails create problems!

Example One - The Paugussett Trail at Shelton Lakes. If you are heading up the hill from Silent Waters and Turkey Trot Trail northbound, the Paugussett takes a right turn behind a large tree to run parallel to the powerlines. The turn used to be easy to follow, but someone hacked out a shortcut between the curve and the powerlines, and that became heavily used by mountain bikes. I watched a series of pedestrians miss the trail turn, instead following the rogue trail out to the powerlines, stop, look around confused, then turn right to follow the powerlines. 

Paugussett hikers were missing the trail turn

The solution: The unauthorized trail did have some merit. Without the shortcut, people making loops at Shelton Lakes would need to stay along the powerlines for longer. So the rogue trail could stay. Could it be shifted a bit to make the trail junction less tricky? Not easily. The only solution then was a trail sign.  And the sign could be used to list what's up head.  That can pique their curiosity. A sign that says, "Wiacek Meadows 0.5 mi." is an invitation. 

Making a new sign

The original idea was to bring a 4x4 post so the sign could be installed right in the trail junction and impossible to miss. But that idea was rejected because bikers might crash into it. The sign would need to be installed on the tree to the right. People still might not notice it, however, if they are looking down at their feet as they climb the hill. So a big, eye-catching blue arrow was affixed to a tree to the left, pointing towards the new sign and the trail turn. A one-two punch. Hope that helps! 

New signage calling attention to the turn

This is a case where if we were designing a short-cut trail from scratch, we would had done it differently, so that it wouldn't confuse hikers. Connecting right where the Paugussett takes a sharp turn was a recipe for confusion. 

Example Two -- Indian Well Attempts to the Falls: Everyone is in a hurry to get to the falls!  The problem is a ravine so steep and unstable that only people who are part goat can go up and down it. And we do have a few people who prefer that route to the top of the falls so they can jump off (no, you're not supposed to do that, but people do). 

Several pathways entice people off of the Paugussett.
The trails seem promising but are a trap.

Most of the people on the trails are not that. We get a lot of extended families with young children, some carrying infants, with the grandparents tagging along. People in flip flops. Average people who don't want to hike, they just want to see the falls (especially since DEEP closed the Falls parking area). Most people are not accustomed to follow blazes or even look at a trail map. They just follow the most obvious worn tread. 

Installing a new sign along the Paugussett

In this case, we have rogue trails heading towards the brook, which people can hear up ahead, and which seems pretty promising if you're look for some falls. The main trail seems to be turning away from the brook at that point.  But while these rogue trails start out nicely, they either disappear at the edge of the embankment or are ridiculously steep and hard to follow. Even if people can get to the falls, they are on the uphill side at the top of the falls and there is no view. 

A new sign to discourage a wrong turn to the right. 
A second potential wrong turn is about 30 feet down the trail.

At the first troublesome junction, there are no trees to attach a sign to, so some 4x4's needed to be lugged up the hill, and then hole dug. The preferred spot had too much rock, and had to be abandoned. So the plans were changed and the holes dug in a new spot. One bad trail junction down. Several to go. The next junction was just thirty feet down the trail, which seemed to go straight ahead to what I call "Disappointment Rock." That's where the sign was originally supposed to go. Instead, lots of branches were piled up and then wired together. And the main trail was cleared a bit and more blazed added. 

Further on, as the trail once again approaches the top of the river bank, I saw people abandoning the trail and heading over to the edge, looking for a way down, and then looking confused. You can tell a lot of people do that. The solution there was more blazing and also throwing branches along the edge of the riverbank to make it less inviting. 

Hope that helps our hikers! For anyone who is ever tempted to create a new trail, please consider the impacts to other trail users and to wildlife that may be disrupted (we try to balance recreational access with wildlife needs in our conservation areas). If you think there is a real need for a trail or trail connection in Shelton, ask someone on the Trails Committee about it. 

What Kind of Winter Did We Have?

 That pretty much sums it up! 

Spotlight on Curtiss Brook

Curtiss Brook is an overlooked and under-appreciated feature of the Shelton Lakes Greenway. Did you know that Pine Lake, Hope Lake, and Silent Waters are all dammed sections of the Curtiss Brook or its branches? Most of the major hiking trails in the Shelton Lakes Greenway feature this brook, and we've built a number of pedestrian bridges across it.  

Curtiss Brook (Click image to enlarge). 
The heavy blue highlighted section is the channel shown on  
a Shelton map dated 1867. The red line is Shelton Ave.

So here's a trailside tour of the brook, starting at the mouth of the river where it empties into the Housatonic River and progress upstream to its source near Willoughby Road.  Upstream from Pine Lake, the brook splits into three main branches. I'm showing the middle branch as Curtiss Brook proper because that's what an old map from 1867 shows. I've labeled the other two major branches as the North Branch and South Branch of Curtiss Brook for this blog post.

The Shelton Canal & Locks: Before we begin our tour at Shelton Lakes, let's start by driving downtown to the north end of Canal Street, parking, and walking through the gate to the Shelton Canal & Locks (see trail map). That water you see spilling over the locks is Curtiss Brook!  The brook had entered into the canal a bit to the south. Everyone should visit this spot at least once! The canal was the source of water power that allowed for industrialization downtown in the late 1800's. Curtiss Brook was a critical water resource for these industries. That's why the reservoirs were built. 

Curtiss Brook spills down the locks

Curtiss Brook Trail: Now drive over to Pine Lake and park. Note the big hill you drive up on your way there. When you get to the top of the hill, that's where the Pine Lake parking lot is, along with the dam across Curtiss Brook that created Pine Lake. Park here. 

The top of an old dam near Curtiss Brook Trail,
just before the brook leaves public open space

Don't get on the Rec Path just yet. With your back to the highway, turn right and follow the orange blazes of Curtiss Brook Trail. The stream is spilling over the Pine Lake dam and entering a deep ravine. The trail follows the brook but is up on the steep slope. After about a quarter mile, the slope eases and an unmarked side trail leads down to the water's edge. Just below this point are the remains of another dam. 

A spur off of Curtiss Brook Trail leads down to the water

The Rec Path at Pine Lake: Return to the parking lot, and walk across the Pine Lake dam spillway bridge. The elevation here is quite a bit higher than down along the canal where the factories used to be. All the water company needed to do was open a valve and water rushed through the pipes at high pressure because it was going down a big hill. This water pressure could be used to fight fires.  The concrete remains of a gatehouse foundation that housed the valve can be seen in the water near the bridge. There is also a red building below the dam. We're not entirely sure what this was, but have heard it was perhaps a filtration facility.  For many decades this reservoir was known as Shelton Reservoir #2. 

Pine Lake dam and pedestrian bridge
(photo taken before the old gatehouse collapsed)

The Rec Path School Campus Section: Walk along the Rec Path and cross Meadow Street. As you head up the hill, Curtiss Brook is now babbling just off to the left of the trail under tall White Pines, quite scenic in a few spots. 

Curtiss Brook as it runs 
between the Rec Path and
Shelton Avenue

Part way up the hill, with a ballfield just off to your right, the brook splits. The main brook crosses Shelton Avenue via a pair of 4-foot culvert, while the North Branch continues alongside the Rec Path all the way to Constitution Blvd North. 

Curtiss Brook goes under Shelton Ave via twin culverts, 
while the north branch continues along the Rec Path

After crossing Constitution Blvd, the North Branch is not seen from our trail system again unless you take the Paugussett Trail north and cross Independence Drive. We call this section of the Paugussett the "Indy Link" where it crosses the headwaters of Curtiss Brook's North Branch. The terrain is poorly drained and we've had a number of challenges maintaining the trail through here. After a heavy rain, the land is filled with little channels of water coming together, seemingly from every direction, and collecting. There are multiple bridges and bog walks, and the trail has been shifted a few times in an effort to find better footing. 

North Branch Curtiss Brook after heavy rain. 
Paugussett Trail north of Independence Drive.

The Rec Path at Silent Waters: Back to the tour. After crossing Constitution Blvd North, continue along the Rec Path to where the path takes a sharp left and begins to follow the top of the old Silent Waters dam constructed in the late 1800s. What's left of the reservoir is off to the right. The water level used to be much higher and you would have been walking right along the shoreline, but the water was mostly drained for safety reasons. Continue to the Silent Waters bridge over the spillway.  This used to be called Shelton Reservoir #1 and the modest spillway is where Curtiss Brook flows out of the reservoir.  If you look downstream, you'll see smaller Rec Path bridge over the brook, and then the brook just seems to just disappear. It's gone underground, piped beneath the big intersection between the Dog Park and the Intermediate School. From there, it flows along Shelton Avenue, but on the other side of the highway from the school and trails, so you don't see it. Eventually it recrosses the highway at the two culverts we saw earlier. 

Curtiss Brook at Silent Waters spillway
(2007 photo during Rec Path construction)

To find the headwaters of Curtiss Brook, continue along the Rec Path to the end of the dam and take a right onto Turkey Trot Trail, blazed white. You'll be going around the loop clockwise. Follow this trail past the powerline and you'll see Curtiss Brook once again on your right, babbling away if there's been enough rain. After a few hundred yards, a section splits off and crosses under Shelton Avenue. This is the outlet from Cranberry Swamp, the vast wooded swamp that Oak Valley Trail circles around (the name comes from old deeds, but we have no idea if there were actually cranberries in the swamp at one time). 

The Cranberry Swamp outlet (Oak Valley Trail)
crosses Shelton Ave and empties into Curtiss Brook 
near Turkey Trot Trail

Curtiss Brook continues along Turkey Trot Trail for a bit then turns away from the trail and is no longer seen. The trail bends to the right with Willoughby Road to your left, then meanders off to the right again, away from the road for a bit. As it circles back to the left towards Willoughby again, there will be some rock features on your right and a sharp drop off down to a wooded swamp down below. That's the source of Curtiss Brook. The trail will circle around the swamp clockwise. 

Source of Curtiss Brook, near Turkey Trot Trail

Old land records show that a portion of this swamp was once owned by George Cam, a Native American who owned several tracts of land along Oak Valley Road in the late 1700s. This particular property was entirely swampland, and there is conjecture that it was originally a cedar swamp and George Cam harvested the cedars for making cedar shingles (tools used for making shingles were found on his farm). Northern White Cedar is pretty rare in Connecticut now, but used to be much more common before it was overharvested. 

If you are literally walking this route, then continue following the white blazes of Turkey Trot Trail until the trail rejoins the Rec Path. Go left onto the Rec Path and follow that back to Pine Lake. 

The South Branch of Curtiss Brook: Park at the Dog Park on Nells Rock Road. Curtiss Brook is on the other side of Nells Rock Road and has just split into the main branch and the south branch, the latter of which goes underneath Nells Rock Road shortly. Head up the Rec Path towards Hope Lake.  You should start seeing the southern  branch of Curtiss Brook off to your left as it drains out of Hope Lake.  Continue up hill on the Rec Path and when you get closer to the Hope Lake dam, you should see the waters of Curtiss Brook cascading over the spillway. 

Curtiss Brook South Branch flowing out of Hope Lake

Paugussett Trail at Hope Lake & Eklund Pond:  Take a left onto the Paugussett Trail at the dam and follow the blue blazes along the shoreline all the way to the far end of the lake. Imagine the long, deep valley that was here before the brook was dammed. The valley made for deeper waters once the brook was dammed, which is why this is the only one of the three Shelton reservoirs that is stocked with trout. The other reservoirs are too shallow and warm to support trout. 

When the blue blazes take a sharp left and join Oak Valley Trail, you'll cross a bridge over a small stream that feeds Hope Lake. This is the south branch of Curtiss Brook. We'll come back to it further upstream shortly. 

The Hope Lake inlet
Bridge is for Oak Valley Trail & the Paugussett

Continue following the blue blazes to cross Oak Valley Road. Take a quick right onto the blue/red blazes of the Eklund Bypass Trail, and follow that down to a tiny pond formed by damming up, you guessed it, the Curtiss Brook South Channel. This is the same channel that you recently crossed as it flowed into Hope Lake. The Eklund Pond is a high quality vernal pool, filled with salamander and wood frog eggs each spring, but no fish. It's not much to look at, so enjoy this photo of a very tiny baby salamander: 

Salamander larvae from the 
vernal pool at Eklund Garden

Shelton's Lost Trails

A trail to the Pine Rock Park "Swimming Hole" had to be 
fenced off due to rampant misuse and mountains of litter

Here are some trails we used to have in Shelton and now we don't.  The reasons for the trails being abandoned vary, but we've learned to think hard about whether any new trail should be built. Is it on protected land? Who will maintain it? Is there parking?  Will anyone want to use the trail?  But even if the trail is used and maintained, other issues may shut it down, as in our first example: 

Far Mill River Trail at Pine Rock Park  This trail to the so-called "swimming hole" at Pine Rock Park was around for decades in one form or another, mostly following a sewer line to a deep pool below gorgeous falls in the river. It's one of the prettiest spots in Shelton. But with the rise of the Internet, word got out, and growing crowds of people began to descend on the swimming hole. They came from as far away as New York or New Jersey, and caused all sorts of problems in the neighborhood, clogging the streets, leaving piles of litter, and keeping people up at night. The City of Shelton spent years enforcing 'no parking' signs from the adjacent Pine Rock Park neighborhood. When a commercial development proposal for 865 River Road came before the Planning and Zoning Commission in 2006, an arrangement was made to provide parking spots there in the hopes that people would stop parking in Pine Rock Park. That did work for awhile.

Trail to the Pine Rock Park "Swimming Hole,"
now fenced off from the general public

The Trails Committee became involved at that point, creating a trail in 2008 from the back of 865 River Road to connect with the old trail. It was a lot of work and included three sets of stairs, but the area was beautiful, and the trail provided fishing access. Sadly, over the years the crowds kept growing and growing, causing serious problems in the parking lot and leaving enormous piles of litter at the "swimming hole" each summer weekend as well as lots of graffiti. (Here's a blog post about that from 2013).  Finally, in 2015, the City of Shelton allowed the owner to erect a tall fence and prohibit river access from their facility. 

That returned pressure at Pine Rock Park, and in 2021 an 8-ft fence was installed along the back of the City's Pearl Bach Open Space where people were cutting through to gain access to Stratford's property.  Public access to the Swimming Hole was thus eliminated. 

The old part of the trail follows a sewer line

This was always a frustrating and complex issue because the open space property in question, north of the river, is within the boundaries of Shelton, but owned by the Town of Stratford as part of their Far Mill River Park. So the City of Shelton didn't have authority to manage it, but the Town of Stratford didn't have good access and considered it to be a nature preserve, not a public facility that needed intense daily management. For a couple years, Stratford had an access trail on their side of the river, with a tiny parking spot, but the trail was covered in thorny overgrowth and the tiny parking lot became a problem.  Everyone finally just gave up and fenced it off. It was a real loss because the river is absolutely gorgeous. And this is why we can't have nice things. 

This type of problem is happening all over the state where there are potential "swimming holes." At Indian Well State Park, problems at the falls have gotten so bad that park staff have taken to closing off the parking area and making the falls as hard to access as possible. The problems at Wadsworth Falls State Park became so bad that neighbors created a Facebook Page to address the issue. 

Well Spring Estates/Far Mill Crossing: This short-lived trail was located along the south side of the Far Mill River near Old Stratford Road and Far Mill Crossing. It was only about 800 feet long, if that, but passed by some interesting old ruins and provided fishing access. Its creation was one of the conditions of approval for the PDD housing development known as Well Spring Estates in 2004. Designated public parking was down a driveway off of Far Mill Crossing. Trails Committee volunteers did some maintenance (see this blog post for some nice photos of a work party), but that came to an end when the public parking area was eliminated. Residents had concerns that parked vehicles might obstruct emergency response vehicles. The general public is now required to park on the street and walk down the driveway to access a very short trail, something most people wouldn't want to do.  

Trail at Well Spring Estates, now overgrown.
The parking area was closed to the public, ending interest in
maintaining the trail.

This particular trail still has some potential. It officially ended at the border with private properties, although an old fishing path continued along the edge of the river. On the other side of these private properties (0.4 mile) is some Shelton Open Space and then Stratford's Far Mill River Park, which continues for over a mile along the steep river bank to Rt 110.  Conservation & Trails have long hoped to extend the Paugussett Trail from Buddington Road to the Far Mill River and out to Rt 110, ending at the old landfill (which was supposed to have a public access/boating component to it on the river side), but there are many hurdles that would need to be cleared. 

Wakelee View Trail (Waterview Drive): This trail was formally proposed by the Open Space Committee in 1996 (this committee no longer exists) for the Shelton Heights Industrial Park area off of Constitution Blvd South. The details are lost to time, but people involved seem to remember that it was in response to a request by Pitney Bowes.  The industrial park was mostly still vacant at the time. The Trails Committee had not yet been established, but a few years later the committee was created and the 0.9-mile Wakelee View Trail became their first project. No idea why it was called that. The trail traversed the periphery of the industrial park through a 100-ft conservation easement area up on an open hillside. 

Wakelee View Trail
(most of the buildings had not been constructed yet)

It was a big project but almost immediately became overgrown.  Trails Committee members had been under the impression that Pitney Bowes employees would help out with maintenance, but it didn't happen. The trail never seems to have gotten much use, probably because it was unimproved (a paved or crushed stone path would be more attractive for people on their lunch hour, like the popular paved corporate path near Trap Falls Reservoir).  Also, this was the same year that the Shelton Lake regions became open space, and the Trails Committee's volunteers were enthusiast about getting some new trails there established, including the Rec Path. 

Wakelee View Trail

Land Trust/Boy Scout Trails: A number of trails created by Boy Scouts have been lost over the years, including a network of trails across the Stockmal and Willis Woods properties. Prior to the creation of Nicholdale Farm in the 1990s, the Stockmal family hosted a Boy Scout camping area on their private land, which abuts the Land Trust's Willis Woods property. A number of hiking trails were blazed, but after the Scout camp was moved to the new Nicholdale Farm property, those trails were not maintained and became impassible.  Some sections of the newer Stockmal Trail and Willis Wood Trail coincide with these lost trails. The Scout camp was located at the current end of Stockmal Trail.

Another Land Trust/Scout trail in danger of being lost is the one off of Commerce Drive leading down towards the Far Mill River. A kiosk marks the spot. This was a great project and benches were installed. A general challenge of hiking trails created by Scouts is there is often no maintenance program in place to keep those trails clear, so they become overgrown quickly, especially if crossing sunny areas with lots of vegetation.

CFPA's Paugussett Trail, Hook-Up Trail, and the Birchbank Access Trail: Built in the 1930s, the Paugussett Trail used to stretch from the Stevenson Dam in Monroe all the way through Shelton to Roosevelt Forest in Stratford. The trail was managed by the non-profit Connecticut Forest and Park Association (CFPA). Everything south of Indian Well was abandoned in the  1970s or 80s when land was cleared for new housing developments. The trail was originally built largely on private property with only a handshake agreement, so when suburbanization ramped up, the trail was lost. The construction of Aspetuck Village was a major disruption, as were the office parks along Commerce Drive. Note that a portion of the trail was re-established in the 2010's using a new, protected route. Read more.  Many other sections of the Paugussett from Birchbank to Webb Mtn were also lost or shifted in response to subdivisions. Lesson: Route trails on preserved lands where possible, or otherwise try to preserve a corridor for them. 

1946 CFPA Map showing the Paugussett, Pomperaug, 
and Hook-Up Trails (click to enlarge)
Surviving routes are in blue

The Hook-Up Trail linked the Paugussett Trail in Shelton to the Pomperaug Trail in Monroe. It passed through farmland of the White Hills. We don't know much about this trail, but assume it was lost when private properties were subdivided.  Much of the southern Pomperaug Trail was also lost, and one orphaned stretch south of the Stevenson Dam was became part of the Paugussett Trail. Read more.

The Birchbank Access Trail to the Paugussett, blazed blue/yellow, was official abandoned due to unchecked ATV damage. After the City of Shelton purchased the land in 1998, the trail was re-opened (now blazed white), and ATV use was enforced. 

The Bluff Walk at Riverview Park: A section of Shelton's first recreational trail was lost when it was buried under fill for a ballfield and the basketball parking area. The trail goes way back to the at least the early 1900s and can be seen on an aerial from 1934. The two ballfields were in place by 1965 and the basketball court by 2004. The section in the photo below still exists behind the large ballfield, while a new trail was dug into the fill slope behind the small ballfield. The Bluff Walk currently crosses the pavement at the basketball courts because the fill slope is too steep for a trail (a portion collapsed in a landslide a few years ago). 

Old post card showing the Bluff Walk at Riverview Park,
looking down on the canal.