West Rock Wish List

 

A fall view of the road just inside the main entrance.

As a park user and a trails volunteer, I have a long wish list of park improvements that I would like to see, improvements that I have grouped into categories. Some situations I hope to improve myself some day, while others would require heavy equipment. The General Assembly has been underfunding the DEEP for years, forcing parks to operate on skeleton staff with little money for upkeep.

Red Trail (starting from the South Overlook and heading north)

• Restoration of the stone slabs that descend the steep slope down to street level. Some steps are still present, while others have slid out of place, and can be found atop other steps, or in the woods. Still others have broken into pieces.
• Extensive drainage work to head off even further erosion on the slope descending from the overlook.
• Restoration of the four sets of staircases along the Red Trail, one of which is nearly intact, and three of which have multiple broken steps (see pictures). 

This staircase is mostly intact and providers users (although not those on bikes or horses) with a way to climb a steep slope and not cause erosion.

This staircase is barely recognizable and would require much effort to restore the stairs to their original position.

• Clearing out of culverts and replacement of washed out trails at several sharp turns on the Red Trail in the area of these staircases. The trail in this area is generally very well engineered and stable. There is one section near the Red Diamond Trail (the Old Oak Nature Trail behind Common Ground High School) where the trail collapsed down the slope, prompting a relocation where the Red and Red Diamond Trail share a section of trail.
• Removal of invasive species along the Red Trail between Lake Wintergreen and Mountain Road, including multi-flora rose, autumn olive, and Asiatic bittersweet. Near Lake Wintergreen there is a section of phragmites.
• Regrade the Red Trail from Lake Wintergreen to the first crossing of Mountain Road. This area continues to wash out with low spots that collect standing water. Too much of the sediments are ending up in Wintergreen Brook, partially blocking the water flow. A particularly eroded section is at the junction with the Purple Trail. The area needs a fresh coating of stone dust with rocks along the side in certain areas, particularly this Purple Trail crossing, to keep the surface from washing away again. As part of this process, the trail could use a drainage ditch in certain areas to collect water as it flows down the ridge and then direct that water into a culvert under the trail and then into Wintergreen Brook. This is a project for heavy equipment, well beyond the capabilities of volunteers with hand tools.

Green Trail

The Green Trail was poorly designed because it climbs the ridge steeply from the Red Trail and is heavily eroded as a result. The trail needs extensive work with regard to erosion control to keep it from further washing away.

Orange Trail

The Orange Trail is generally in good shape. It could use a few waterbars, plus a couple of switchbacks, to keep erosion to a minimum.

Blue-White Trail

Where the Blue-White Trail narrows at the water tank, there are a couple of soft sections that need firming up with rocks. I had installed water bars in the past, but someone ripped them out.

The Regional Water Authority, which owns that property, has been keeping the invasive plants around the tank cut in recent years, but also regrettably cuts the native and desirable mountain laurel. The RWA also installed culvert on the trail near the tank, which is helpful to keep water flowing under the trail. Another culvert or water bars are needed further up the trail because it is heavily eroded from runoff after a storm.

Purple Trail

The Purple Trail needs some water bars to prevent further erosion, particularly near its junction with the Red Trail.

Yellow Trail

The Yellow Trail is generally in good shape. It could use a few waterbars to keep erosion to a minimum. I looked at the possibility of making a direction connection between Yellow and Red, but it would involve an extensive boardwalk through a swamp.
The better approach is to simply walk Mountain Road, which I blazed Yellow in 2015 to guide people between the Yellow Trail up the ridge and the Red Trail. Mountain Road is a quiet street; you might have one car pass by you in the 0.3 mile walk from the woods to the Red Trail.
I hope to relocate the portion of the Yellow Trail along Mountain Road, so that it is closer to the Red Trail. The terrain is suitable enough to move perhaps 0.1 miles of the trail before it would have to exit to the road.

Red-White and Red Trails near Farm Brook Reservoir

The Red-White Trail and the Red Trail near Farm Brook Reservoir has a major problem with invasive plant species. The invasives seem to outnumber the natives with bittersweet vines, autumn olive, and multi-flora rose in abundance, along with Japanese stiltgrass. I heavily targeted the invasives starting in 2015, while working on a relocation of the Red Trail by the pond. I was there on a weekly basis in summer 2015 and when I walked along, I was constantly plucking newly sprouted bittersweet vines, cutting multi-flora rose that regrew, and lopping off the new growth from the autumn olive shrubs along the edge of the field. Since 2015, I have continued to cut down many more autumn olive shrubs and vines.

Volunteers did an aggressive pruning back in spring 2024, which included digging out multi-flora rose by the roots to prevent it from resprouting. The ones nearest the trail were removed, but there are many, many more in the woods to remove.

Regicides Trail

My wish list for the Regicides Trail includes removal of the loose trap rock that makes footing tricky along parts of the trail.

The trail can also benefit from the completion of two sets of stone stairs installed by volunteers, one north of the Orange Trail and the other on the descent into the saddle en route to the steep climb to the Quinnipiac Trail.

Sanford Feeder Trail
I have requested permission from the South Central Regional Water Authority to connect the Sanford Feeder to the Quinnipiac Trail. Otherwise, hikers have to walk about half a mile along Brooks Road, which has no shoulder, to make the connection. The water company has said an environmental study to move this initiative forward. Such a study would cost more than $1,000, but the Connecticut Forest and Park Association is moving ahead with this project, but how long the permit process takes is unknown to this writer, and seems to be taking forever.
My position is that the trail extension would follow existing woods roads, so no clearing would take place. Also, the trail is not located near any reservoirs and is a sufficient distance from the streams that feed the watercourse that there should be no negative effect from hikers.

White Trail

The White Trail had many water concerns, most of which have been addressed and can be read about on the page West Rock Wish List Completed.

Near the junction of the Orange Trail, the White Trail could use a drainage ditch on the upslope side of the trail to collect water as it drains off the ridge. This drainage ditch could be connected to a culvert to keep water off the trail (and freezing up in the winter). Currently water runs across the trail and is eroding it.

Park-Wide Removal of Invasive Species

Particular concerns include the following:

• Asiatic bittersweet, especially along Main Street, near the Lake Wintergreen parking area, along portions of Baldwin Drive, by Farm Brook Reservoir, and near any of the meadows in the park.
• Autumn olive, particularly along the Red Trail by the canal, by Farm Brook Reservoir, and near the northern part of Mountain Road, and along the Gold Trail by the water tank.
• Multi-flora rose, especially along the Red Trail between Lake Wintergreen and the tall pines area near the southern crossing of Mountain Road.
• Japanese barberry, which is scattered at various locations through the park.
• Winged euonymus, better known as burning bush, is found in various locations, particularly along the Westville Feeder.
• Phragmites, especially along the Red Trail between Lake Wintergreen and the Purple Trail.
• Japanese knotweed is sprouting along Wintergreen Avenue near Brookside Avenue, and is spreading rapidly toward the main entrance. There is another large patch near the parking lot on Mountain Road. This plant has rightfully been labeled "Godzilla weed" because it is so hard to eradicate. There is a patch on Baldwin Drive I have been fighting since 2014 and plan to win that battle. There is also a patch of knotweed on Mountain Road that I attacked for the first time in 2016, pulling it out by the roots, and continued to cut it through 2020. As I devoted time to other projects, the knotweed bounced back. I hope to cover it with a tarp in 2023.
• Japanese honeysuckle vines are spreading through the park, strangling and smothering anything it encounters.
• There are sampling of all these invasive plant species running the length of Baldwin Drive.

Miscellaneous Projects

The stone walls at the South Overlook and by Judges Cave are crumbling. They need extensive work to restore the mortar. The state has done some work on these walls, and plans to hire a contractor to address the problem.

There are areas along Baldwin Drive that have litter from when the road was open to traffic, litter that needs removal. This has been an ongoing project, and on every trip, more bottles are found and removed.

The turn-off by the North Summit Trail needs to have extensive glass swept up. I did a partial sweeping when I worked for the state in summer 2008, but never had time to finish the job. I work on this as time allows; in 2022, I pick up broken glass from the pavement and Regicides Trail.

“People” Wish List

My wish list for park users includes the following:

• Don't litter.
• Don't create new trails (and add to the erosion that already exists).
• Don't unblock illegal trails (that I block off to let the area grow over).
• Don't cut across switchbacks because that creates erosion.
• Don't block stream flows with rocks or sticks in an attempt to create a pseudo-bridge: the water just flows down the trail instead.
• Don't graffiti.
• Pick up and take away dog poop.
• Do enjoy the beauty of the park.

This "collection" shows a sampling of litter found along Baldwin Drive and the Regicides Trail north of the Yellow Trail. Judging by the age and and condition of the bottles and cans, they date from a time in the 1970s when Baldwin Drive was open to vehicle traffic. Based on where they are found, people clearly tossed them out their windows as they were driving. I have easily filled two of these buckets while walking along a quarter mile section of the road. I made two similar-sized piles on the Regicides Trail and removed the litter at a later time. Plastic buckets are the best way to remove litter: they don't leak in the trunk of my car, broken glass doesn't cut through as it would a plastic bag, and the handle makes it comfortable for carrying long distances.