Random Stuff Found at Curtiss Brook

Steppenwolf cassette: "Your Wall's Too High"
(found at the base of the big retaining wall)

We pulled a mountain of old litter out of the hillside while digging in the trail at Curtiss Brook below Pine Lake, especially below the old retaining wall that holds up Shelton Ave. It was like excavating a time capsule of Shelton.

bike petal

Horseshoe were found in a couple different places 

Some things never change
(for young people: that is a VHS tape)

This little monkey was laying near the river.
Maybe an animal brought it there.

May have superpowers

Cookie cutter is still usable

Silver-plated spoon is about
100 years old

...and there was a lot of other stuff...

Leave the Leaves on the Hiking Trails!

A layer of leaves protecting the trails
from freeze/thaw cycles at Boehm Pond

It makes perfect sense to blow leaves off the hiking trails, except that it doesn't. The trail is suddenly easier to walk for a few weeks. What could be bad about that? 

For one thing, erosion. Here in southern Connecticut, we'll likely have months of freeze/thaw cycles. It freezes at night and the top of the soil thaws in the afternoon. Hoar frost crystals often form through the top layer of damp soil, loosening the particles, then melt. Over and over, all winter. In between will be some rain storms that can wash away those loosened soil particles. Over the course of ten or twenty years, the damage may be significant. As the soil washes away, rocks and tree roots are exposed. No one wants to walk on a trail full of rocks and roots. A layer of leaves on the trail insulates the soil from many of the daily freeze/thaw cycles. 

Hoar frost is common on damp trails
where the soil is exposed

Winter "greasy" mud: Another impact of removing leaves is that after the ground freezes, and the afternoon sun comes out, the top quarter inch or so of soil tends to melt in some spots.  That top wet layer over the icy ground makes the trail slick and "greasy."  On our hillier trails at places like Indian Well or Birchbank, you can see long slide marks down the mud if there are no leaves. Someone was going down a hill and took a nice long slide when they weren't expecting it. When conditions are like that, hikers seek out leaves to step on rather than exposed soil. 

Leaves protecting the Paugussett tread

Footfall impacts: Then there is just the normal impact of feet hitting the ground. When there is a nice layer of leaf mulch over the soil, those feet aren't landing directly on the soil or on plant roots. Those roots, especially the small ones, are holding the soil together, and the more you step on them, the more they die back and let go of the soil they're holding on to. Imagine a planting bed at home with tomatoes or shrubs. A nice layer of mulch protects those roots and the soil. 

Garlic Mustard taking over
the Paugussett Trail

Invasive Species: There are a few invasive species that are notorious for traveling up and down hiking trails, especially Stiltgrass and Garlic Mustard. These are annual species that die after a year or two, but not before spilling out millions of seeds all over the trails. Hiker boots pick up the seeds and carry them down the trail. If the seed lands on bare ground and is exposed to the sun, it can sprout. If it lands on a layer of leaves, it can't. These species come in so thick and so fast that they can obscure a hiking trail in just a couple weeks. The seed heads may be 5 feet tall and they flop over the trail. 

Loss of future soil: Today's leaves break down into tomorrow's soil. When you leave the leaves, they eventually break down into new soil that help to counteract the soil compaction from people's feet as well as soil loss from erosion. Note this will take years for oak leaves but only a few months for some areas with maples and birch if there are invasive jumping worms (think lower Birchbank). 

EXCEPTIONS: For every rule, there are exceptions. This doesn't apply to our multi-use trails like the Rec Path, which has a crushed stone surface. Stairs and switchbacks, especially in areas with a lot of oak trees, are simply too hazardous when covered with leaves, and people often can't even see the stairs because of all the leaves. This happens every year along the Paugussett Trail, especially going up the steep hill from Princess Wenonah Drive. Those tricky spots will get raked off.  New trails are raked out to remove years of rotting sticks and to help establish the new tread. Tricky spots where a trail is hard to see near houses might get hit with a leaf blower so that the trail tread is obvious to both hikers and the adjacent homeowner. It's a judgement call, and no two trail managers will make the same call.  

Curtiss Brook Connector Work Continues

We got lucky and were able to squeeze in a "dry" work party before the Nor'easter hits tomorrow.  Volunteers met at Pine Lake on Route 108 to continue work on the Curtiss Brook Connector.  The Connector is a short, new trail that connects the RecPath trailhead with Rt. 108 going east toward downtown Shelton.  It gives people, mostly high school students, a safer option to walking along Rt. 108., where there's no sidewalk and a very narrow road shoulder.

There was a brief prep talk about today's tasks.  One group was cutting brush on the east end, another was expanding benching in the side of the hill along Rt. 108, and others were cutting things or clearing up trash.  

Sad to say, there is a lot, Lot, LOT of trash below this busy Rt. 108 roadside where the trail is going.  There was a work party here earlier in the year that collected a lot of debris, and it only seems to have grown more since then, along with all the new brush.

Mike Flament always wanted to work on a chain gang.  Today he got his chance.  The trail route is a steep hillside, and we need to bench the trails in with pick mattocks, trail adzes, and Rouge Hoes.  It is anything but easy work.  We were debating various songs about chain gangs why we were digging.  I went to Chrissie Hynde & The Pretenders, while Mike went straight to Sam Cook.  All we needed was to break into song.

 

Kiera, Kenny, Luis, Ellen & Bill were working up ahead cutting brush out to Rt. 108.  It's amazing how things grew since our last work party here in the spring.  Hopefully somebody else got pictures.

Here's Teresa & Mike on one of the improved sections near the end of the work party.  The trail has to get dug in on the uphill side and leveled out on the downhill side.  The trick is to make something that is stable, drains well, doesn't erode, fits in the landscape, and is sustainable over the long-term.  That's all, piece of cake.  It takes a lot of hard work sometimes to make a decent hiking trail.

Ellen and Mike bringing up yet another bag of trash along Shelton Ave. at the end of the work party.  Ellen thinks she found the first bottle of Ballantine Ale that George Washington threw out of his carriage while passing thru Shelton.  If this picture looks busy to you, you should see how tight it is further down the road.  That's why we need an access trail off the road here.

Note to Treasure Hunters:  There may be a lot of priceless antiques along this section of trail.  Feel free to go in and pick up all the stuff that you find.  Make sure that you have your tetanus shots.  Thank you Mike for taking all the junk down to the Transfer Station after the work party.

A more finished section of trail benched into the hillside. 

We didn't get pictures of everybody working hard but thank you Kiera, Kenny, Luis, Ellen, Bill, Mike, Teresa, and Terry for all your work.  We got a lot done today.  More work is needed to make this a good trail, but we want to improve pedestrian safety to the Pine Lake Trailhead.  

 A lot of high school students and other folks walk along the narrow shoulders of Rt. 108, and it's not safe.  In the longer term it would be great if the State and City added a sidewalk and shoulder here, but the trails volunteers are trying to get this pilot trail in for now.  Additional work parties are planned - stay tuned. 

 

 

 

 

    

The Deer That Broke His Neck at Birchbank and What Followed

I was doing some trail work at Birchbank when I heard a crashing from the steep hillside above the trail. A deer had lost control and was plummeting down the hillside on its back, whacking into trees and rolling about. It came to rest against a log about 150 feet from the trail and I whipped out my phone because, believe it or not, I've seen this happen once before, also at Birchbank. The first time it happened, the deer got right back up on its feet, momentarily bewildered, then realized I was nearby and took off. It was funny. Animals do have accidents all the time. I've had squirrels fall out of tall trees and land at my feet like a rock, and a vulture once fell through a tall pine tree (its wing span too large to help) and landed next to me before flying away. All of them seemed to be fine. 

The buck slid between the two
small trees and crashed into the log

But not this time. I started to record what I thought would be a comical recovery, but instead the deer kicked its leg a couple times, twitched it's head, and then stopped moving. I assume it broke its neck. A doe up the hill began moving down towards the buck slowly. It was very sad. I decided to stop my work and leave the area so as not to add any stress to the situation.  A few hours later I returned for a closer look and to add a trail cam to see what would happen next. The fallen deer was a buck in velvet.  

August is the season of plenty for predators. The forest is full of immature animals that are easy prey, and the streets littered with road kill. I thought it might take a while for the carcass to be consumed, and it did. Here's what happened (I also have videos, but for the blog I'm using only photographs). You can click on the photos to enlarge:

Day 1 (August 20): At dusk the first night, a doe came in and looked at the carcass, walking back and forth a bit. This may be the doe that was with the buck when he fell. 

This doe lingered at the buck's carcass

Day 2: Nothing.

Days 3 & 4: A possum examined the carcass at length multiple times but left it untouched. The area smelled terrible the next few days (you could smell it at the trailhead if the wind was right):

An Opossum just checking things out

Day 5: The reek attracted the attention of a Turkey Vulture, but it didn't seem to eat much, if anything, and did not return. The dense tree canopy and abundant road kill options were probably factors. Someone's off-leash dog wanders up to take a look. Coyote begin to appear from time to time, night and day.

Turkey Vulture

Day 6: A coyote comes in for a closer look and nibbles off the tip of a velvet-covered antler. 

 

Coyote chewing off an antler tip

Day 7: Lots of action! It begins at 9:30 pm when a bobcat examines the carcass at length and at one point grabs the deer by the neck, then lets go. The bobcat returns an hour later. Then at 2:00 am a coyote comes upon the scene and immediately drags the carcass down the hill to the base of a large tree, still in view of the deer cam but much farther away (in this new location, it's possible that animals were visiting and not tripping the camera's shutter). The bobcat returns for a third visit that night an hour later, sits on a boulder, and looks towards the carcass in its new location but does not approach.

The bobcat's first visit at 9:30 pm, returning at 10:30 pm, 
but not eating

Around 2:00 am, a coyote arrives and immediately drags
the carcass down the hill to the base of the large tree on the left

Coyote continuing to drag the carcass to the base of the tree

An hour later, the bobcat returns yet again, viewing the carcass while
perched on a nearby boulder, then creeps away without going to the carcass

Day 8: A coyote grabs a big chunk of deer and carries it up the hill around 10:30 am. At one point it stops to peer down the hill towards the hiking trail. Good chance a hiker was coming in. Only one coyote at a time is photographed over the next few days, so it seems to be a loner.  A closer look on a bigger screen shows two coyotes often at the site together. 

Coyote comes in around 10:30 am
(carcass is at base of large tree on left)

Coyote carries away a chunk of deer about five minutes later

A couple hours after the coyote leave, a terrier finds the carcass and starts rolling next to it where the carcass had just been dragged. Probably the deer's rotting guts had spilled out, along with some maggots. Great stuff to roll in if you're a dog. This is about 150 feet from the trail. Think about that if you insist on letting your dog run around the trails off leash, or don't, and just give your dog a big hug after your hike. At one point you can see the owner calling the dog back and the dog is ignoring her. Again, this is about 150 feet from the trail. The dog and owner return an hour later after their hike, and the dog looks like it wants to go up where the coyote went. Small dogs make great coyote snacks. Just sayin'. 

Off-leash terrier rolls where the carcass had been dragged

Terrier returns an hour later, seems to be looking for the coyote

The coyote returned later than night. 

Day 9: At 7:30 am, the coyote sniffs where the dog had stopped in the photo above, and pees. The carcass is starting to look smaller.  A doe stops in to investigate. The coyote visits the site for the next few nights and the carcass disappears from view. Other animals might have visited and not tripped the camera. 

A doe examines the original location of the carcass

Day 14: I return to the site after vacation and this is all that is left of the deer. There aren't even many bones. 

This is all that remains

Click HERE to view a video compilation that starts on Day 7 (video from the first seven days was lost). 

Using Shelton's Trails to Prep for Mountain Hiking

Hiking the White Mountains

You might have vacation plans that include hiking in places with actual mountains and want to get in shape for that. But how? Going to the gym can help, but it's not the same. The gold standard is to prepare for hiking by hiking. If you plan to hike up rocky hills, you want to prepare by hiking up rocky hills. For example, if you plan to hike up a 4,000-footer in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, you want to train by hiking up long, steep, rocky hills.  Some people drive all the way up to Bear Mountain, Connecticut's highest peak. That's a beautiful hike, and if you take the steepest route you'll ascend and descend 1560 feet in about 5.4 miles. But you'll also spend a solid three hours in the car if coming from Shelton and not everyone has time for that. 

I'm here to say you have options right here in Shelton and I've listed some below with total mileage and elevation gains for each. I recently walked from Birchbank Mountain to Eklund Garden. The total elevation gain was 1460 feet over about 7.6 miles, about the same as hiking Bear Mountain. Call it "interval training." Instead of one big up and one big down, there are lots of ups and downs that add up. That hike included a relentless ascent of 530 feet from the falls area at Indian Well to Wiacek Meadows, just north of the High School.  And there was some rocky, uneven footing (especially through Burritt's Rocks), which is critical training if you plan to hike in a rocky area like the White Mountains. Compare the two photos below: 

White Mountains

Paugussett Trail at Birchbank Mtn 

These are the hikes I've been using the past few years to train for backpacking parts of the Appalachian Trail and doing the 4000-footers of New Hampshire.  I work up to carrying a loaded backpack, and have learned to supplement the hiking with about 50 squats and some knee exercises. The squats are super helpful if you plan to go up and down boulder-filled trails like the ones in the White Mountains. 

Note that if you want to do overnight backpacking but are new at it, or you have new gear you want to test out, one option is to take the Paugussett Trail northbound from Buddington Road and tent at Webb Mountain.  If you run into trouble, you can always call home for a ride or supplies you forgot. (Note you'll need to apply for a camping permit from the Town of Monroe). 

All of the hikes involve the Paugussett Trail along the Housatonic River bluff, because that's where the hills (and sometimes rocks) are. I use the app GaiaGPS to determine the ascent of the hike. The app does tend to understate the mileage, apparently by not including vertical distances. I adjusted the mileages below to account for that. 

This list is ordered by total ascent: 

1. Fastest hike -  Indian Well/Tahmore Figure-8 (1.7 mile with 410 ft ascent  - 242 ft/mile): This hike starts with lung-busting steep ascent, has a nice overlook, and the footing is easy and mostly dry even in mud season. But it can get crowded and noisy during peak summer weekends. Also, the gnats can be really bad in summer. Park in the hiker lot across the street from the beach entrance to Indian Well and go up the big rotting flight of steps. Take a left sobo (southbound) on the Paugussett Trail, and then pick up the blue/yellow Tahmore Trail to the overlook. Continue on the blue/yellow loop. Make it a figure-8 loop hike by continuing south on the Paugussett Trail and take a hard left on blue/red Beach Cutoff Trail. 

Indian Well/Tahmore Figure-8
1.7 mile with 410 ascent and easy footing

2. Birchbank Crazy-8 loop with Burritt's Rocks: (2.6 mile with 420 ft ascent - 162 ft/mi). This scenic hike is best at giving you the illusion of wilderness so you can pretend you're in northern New England. The first and last half-mile are flat, but the rest is all up and down. The southern loop (Burritt's Bypass) is very rocky, while the rest has good footing. From the Birchbank trailhead, head north on the white-blazed Birchbank Trail, crossing two bridges, and heading up the hill along the cascades to Chimney Junction. Turn left onto blue and cross the river (or continue on white to cross at a bridge, it doesn't really matter). Continue on blue, passing the overlook, the junction with the blue/white Birchbank Connector, and the first junction with blue/green Burritt's Bypass. Go through a very rocky section and near the top of  the hill turn right onto Burritt's Bypass Trail (blue/green), now heading north. At the end, take a left back onto the Paugussett then the next right onto the blue/white Birchbank Connector. Turn right onto Birchbank Trail (white), and another right at the bottom of the hill to return to your car. 

Birchbank Crazy-8 
2.6 miles, 420 ft ascent, lots of rocks

3. Housatonic Woods lollipop loop: (2.0 miles with 485 ft ascent - 243 ft/mile): Click HERE for a trail map. This is an interesting hike with mostly good footing (just a short section through "the passageway" with some rocks and drop-offs.) You're unlikely to see anyone on this hike so it's a great option if Indian Well is busy. The con is you end the hike with a long uphill climb, and there's a lot of road noise. Park at the end of Woodsend Ave and hike a lollipop loop using Woodsend Trail and the Paugussett Trail. 

4. Indian Well Beach to Housatonic Woods Lollipop Loop. (3.4 mile, 770 ft ascent - 226 ft/mile). This hike offers good footing and includes a part of Indian Well nobody ever sees. Good for wet or icy weather, but crosses Route 110, so don't do this during rush-hour traffic. You'll start at the beach at Indian Well, climb up to the overlook, then descend to Indian Hole Brook. Then continue on blue across Rt 110 and up to Woodsend Trail to make a loop in Housatonic Woods. See this page for maps and a better description. 

The BIRCH-WELL Hikes: Bigger ascents and lots of rocks!  "Birch-Well" is our nickname for the steep, rocky slope that spans the southern part of Birchbank and northern section of Indian Well.  Old deeds called the area "Burritt's Rocks." These hikes mostly cross Burritt's Rocks TWICE and are good training if you plan to hike in a rocky area like the White Mountains. Avoid these hikes if it's wet or icy. The first three hikes ascend and descend the river bluff once, twice, or three times, giving you the total ascent you're looking for.  I make sure I can handle the hardest one (the Birch-Well Triple), carrying a fully-loaded pack, before setting out on a backpacking trip up north. 

1. Birch-Well Single (3.4 miles with 780 ft ascent 230 ft/mile): Start at Indian Well at the trailhead across from the beach entrance, go up the white access trail and turn right to head north on the blue-blazed Paugussett Trail until you reach the Birchbank Overlook of the Housatonic River. Be sure to take the Burritt's Bypass trail (blue/green) when northbound but stay on blue when southbound. The return hike is easier because you're going mostly downhill. 

Birch-Well Single (3.4 miles with 780 ft ascent)

Click "Birch-Well Single" profile to enlarge

2. Birch-Well Double (lollipop loop) (4.4 miles 1,040 ft ascent): The same hike as the Birch-Well single, but with an added loop at Birchbank that takes you all the way down to the bottom before climbing up to the overlook.  It has the benefit of giving your mind a reprieve from all the rocks (hiking through rocks can be mentally draining) before going back through them again. Start the hike from the Indian Well beach, but before you get to the Birchbank Overlook, take a right and go down the Birchbank Connector (blue/white), take a right on Birchbank Trail (white), and take that all the way down the hill. Turn left to follow the white Birchbank Trail loop counterclockwise, cross Upper White Hills Brook at the Scout bridge, and stay on the white loop past the cascades all the way to Chimney Junction. Take a left on the blue Paugussett Trail across the brook and up to the Birchbank Overlook. Return the way you came (but stay on blue instead of taking Burritt's Bypass). Click the hike profile below to enlarge. 

Click "Birch-Well Double" profile to enlarge

3. Birch-Well Triple (Figure-8): (6.5 miles with 1270 ft ascent - 195 ft/mile): This is my default long hike for building stamina before a backpacking trip. Start at the Birchbank trailhead and continue past two bridges to take the Birchbank loop counterclockwise. At Chimney Junction, turn left to go south on blue (or if the water is high, stay on white and use the upper Scout bridge to cross the brook). Stay on blue all the way to Tahmore Junction at Indian Well State Park. Turn right towards the sign that says "Overlook 200 feet", now on the blue/yellow Tahmore loop going clockwise. Follow the blue/yellow for one mile around the loop, arriving back at Tahmore Junction. Return to Birchbank Mountain the way you came (remember to take Burritt's Bypass when northbound). Turn right onto the blue/white Birchbank Connector, then two rights on Birchbank Trail to return to your car.

"Birch-Well Triple" Profile
Click to enlarge

Birch-Well Triple
6.5 miles with 1270 ft ascent

4. Birchbank to Eklund Garden: (7.1 miles with 1460 ft ascent - 206 ft/mile): Not as many rocks, but this option adds variety and is especially fun if Eklund is in full summer bloom, and the walk along Silent Waters and Hope Lake is always enjoyable. This hike is one-way, so you'll need to figure out the logistics of that. It can be shortened by ending at Constitution Blvd with almost the same total ascent (5.8 miles with 1255 ft ascent - 216 ft/mile). You can make the Wiacek Meadows overlook your goal (it's at the top of the 500+ foot ascent) and enjoy the view for a bit. 

Birchbank to Eklund Garden
7.6 miles, 1460 ft total ascent

 

Click Profile to enlarge

So those are some of the hikes I do in Shelton. Some regional options that aren't too far away nclude: 

• Zoar Trail, a 6.3-mile blue-blazed loop in Newtown with 1115-ft total ascent and lots of annoying boulders along one section. 
  
  
• Sleeping Giant. There are a zillion options here. If you take the blue-blazed Quinnipiac Trail from the main parking area up over the Giant's Head and on to the tower, you'll get some serious steep rock-ledge climbing on a challenging trail and a total of 725 feet of ascent over 1.4 mile, although it seems like it should be more than that (The least-treacherous descent is via the Tower Trail). If you plan to hike someplace out west with trails that switchback gently up mountains (or go down the Grand Canyon), the easy Tower Trail heading up the Giant would be great training. Trail. Same elevation gain at the blue trail, but a different type of walking. 

Kiosks Need Maintenance

"Before" - Paugussett kiosk
on Buddington Road

We have lots of trail kiosks that were built for Eagle Scout projects. We love the kiosks! But they do require maintenance over the years, just like the bridges and bog walks. Kiosks set the entryway tone to a trail, so we don't want them looking neglected. And yet a few are getting that way, like the one on Buddington Road for the Paugussett Trail. This particular kiosk had some graffiti at one point, and whatever was used to remove the graffiti clouded up the glass. And the routered sign at the top had weathered so much you could hardly tell it said anything. This one has been on the 'to-do' list for a few years, and it finally got done. 

Scrubbing and sanding the trail sign

The kiosk was originally constructed in 2014 by Mark Sullivan from Troop 25. The routered sign was removed and a lot of time was spent sanding and scrubbing the wood in preparation for painting. Meanwhile, the polycarbonate sheet was measured and turned out to be a size and thickness not carried by the big box stores like Home Depot. Was that something we could get from Shelton's very own Modern Plastics? Yes! And the owner Bing Carbone even donated the sheet cut to the exact size as the original. Thank you! 

Much sharper! 

The new glass and refurbished sign really made a big difference to this kiosk. The roof might still need some shingles, but it's so much better! 

We're at a point now where many kiosks and bridges are over ten years old and it seems like there are a lot of structures all needing help at the same time. Meanwhile, the Trails Committee is trying to catch up with all the seasonal overgrowth. If there is anyone out there with some basic carpentry skills willing to help out, let us know! We've also wondered whether any Scouting groups would be willing to help out. 

BMX Track at Boehm Pond Removed

Hats off to a couple different people for alerting us to some unsightly earthwork associated with a rogue BMX bike trail & jumps going on along Boehm Pond Trail just off of Far Mill Street. The early warning allowed us to catch it before things got worse. Thank you! It's so important for people to let us know when something is going on, whether it's a new tree that's fallen across the trail, some graffiti, or rogue trails. 

In this particular case, a friend of the trail confiscated a stack of tools stored at the site and left a note giving the offenders one week to repair the damage or the Police would be called. The trail builders left a reply saying they couldn't repair the damage without their tools and they didn't know building trails wasn't allowed. Another trail friend then witnessed a vehicle with possibly a father and son come in and work on the trail, and got the license plate, which was reported to the PD. This was surprising to learn that at least one adult was involved, although I guess it shouldn't have been. I had assumed it was all the work of dumb kids who don't know any better. But we had that happen at French's Hill a few years ago. A neighbor said she saw parents drop off their kids repeatedly to create and ride on a set of ramps along the trail, right past signs saying "no bikes." A stone wall was ripped apart and big wooden ramp constructed (I needed to use a chainsaw to break it down). Boggles the mind that parents would do that.

3-foot deep hole and a new trail

I didn't know any of that was going on at Boehm Pond when I receive an alert about the trail damage from a different hiker and went to check it out and post some official notices. I found two large holes dug nearly 3 feet deep, multiple ramps, lots of earthwork, litter, boards and logs screwed together, and carved trees. Fortunately, the rogue trail wasn't very long yet. 

Lots of earthwork for the rogue bike trail & jumps

bike ramp

Really? Check the nearby sign...

Nearby sign:
"Prohibited: digging holes or building bike ramps"

"MTB" (mountain bike) marking the rogue trail

And of course a tree top had to fall over the trail right next to the rogue trail. So I returned the next morning, cut the dangling tree top as much as I safely could, repaired all the earth work, filled in the holes, and cleaned up a bunch of litter (all kinds of candy wrappers and such). The wood ramp had already been removed by someone else. It took all of one very hot and muggy morning to clean up the mess, but it's done. The confiscated tools were shown to the Police and will probably be donated. 

Litter hauled away 

As a side note, there is an open space that kids can and do ride with their BMX bikes. It's the Huntington Wellfield property on Huntington Street across from Maple Lane. There are some old sand pits in there that are enjoyed by some of the kids  - no need to build anything. 

The eyesore at Boehm Pond Preserve is gone now, problem solved. And many thanks again to the folks who let us know about this issue before it got any worse. Remember that the trail volunteers don't live out on the trails. Never assume that we are aware about an issue you come across. There are many ways to report a problem. You can post something on the Trails Committee's Facebook Group, contact anyone you might know who is a member of the Trails Committee, or contact myself at conservation@cityofshelton.org (or by phone by calling City Hall 203-924-1555 x1315). Thank you and Happy Trails!