The Invaders Letterbox Series LbNA #64741

To find the Invaders Letterboxes, park at the Big Falls parking lot (not the main one) for Wadsworth Falls State Park, which is just north of Connwood Foresters (39 Cherry Hill Road, Middlefield). Follow Cherry Hill Rd. south over the bridge and the railroad tracks to the start of the orange trail. This trail goes to the main parking area. Follow the orange trail north. Just before the orange trail goes up the first hill, turn right onto the yellow trail. Follow the trail as it winds up the hill, wave hello to “the Captain”. Stop when you get to the intersection with the yellow and black trail. There are 4 letterboxes to find. Each one is for a different invader. There is a notebook only at the 4th letterbox.

Letterbox 1: Garlic Mustard
Go back down the hill (you are heading northwest) the way you have come and count the blazes. When you come to the 3rd yellow blaze (it is a small maple tree with a blaze on each side next to a black cherry tree), look on the opposite side of the trail for a big maple tree with visible roots. Look between the roots on the backside behind a stone door. Garlic Mustard is an invasive species that can be found growing near this letterbox. Can you find some? It was not here a few years ago and now it is everywhere.

Letterbox 2: Winged Euonymus (A.K.A. Burning Bush)
Return to the intersection of the yellow & the yellow & black trail. This time turn left (go northeast) onto the yellow & black trail. Look for a two-sister white oak where the sister on the right has been girdled. (Girdling is a way of killing a tree or a portion of it by cutting a groove or grooves that completely encircles the trunk. If the cuts are deep, they will stop the flow of nutrients up the trunk and kill the tree.) With your back to the two-sister oak look across the trail and to the left of the tree with the yellow & back blaze. Find an old red maple with a “cave” at its base. Look in the cave behind a stone door. As you walked to the letterbox, you passed a Winged Euonymus (A.K.A. Burning Bush). Can you find the bush with the wing-like protrusions on the branches. The leaves are a bright red in the fall; the bush looks like it is burning.

Letterbox 3: Multiflora Rose
Return to the intersection. This time head up the hill on the yellow trail (go southeast). Just as you reach the top of the hill there are a pair black birch trees on either side of the trail. (Black birch trees have grey bark with horizontal lines.) The one on the right has multiflora rose at its base. With your back to the tree with the blaze on the west side of it, take 8 to 10 steps to the southwest to another black birch (to the right of a dead black birch with fungus on it) and look behind the stone door. Can you find more thorny multiflora rose bushes in the area?

Letterbox 4: Asiatic Bittersweet
Return to the intersection. This time head southeast on the yellow and black trail. Go up a slight hill. The first yellow & black blaze is on a small sugar maple on the right (next to another small sugar maple with a blaze on the other side); stop here. To find the letterbox, look down the hill. Follow a fallen log down the hill in a westerly direction. When you get to where it forms and X with another fallen log, turn right and follow this additional dead black cherry log down hill in a northerly direction. As you go, you will wade through a sea of garlic mustard and multiflora rose. When you reach the end of the log, look inside. Once you have stamped your stamp, walk back to the pair of blazed maples. Can you find the tree that is wrapped with bittersweet like the stamp? (Hint: With your back to the blazed trees, notice the black cherry that has been girdled. Next to it and to the right is a red maple that is being strangled by bittersweet (the bittersweet vine is wrapped tightly around the tree and is cutting off the flow of nutrients for the tree. One portion of the maple tree has already fallen).

These 4 letterboxes are named for 4 common invasive species in Connecticut. All four were brought to this country on purpose because they are pretty plants. They can be nice in people’s yards, but they out compete our native plans because they have no or few natural predators. They are bullies of the forest and are taking over habitat of many wonderful native plants like jack-in-the-pulpit, trillium and spicebush.

This letterbox was placed by Everyone Outside in conjunction with the Rockfall Foundation. Everyone Outside enables and provides opportunities for people of all ages to enjoy time outside to connect with the natural world to promote healthy living and environmental stewardship. Visit the Everyone Outside website to learn more about fun free programs and other letterboxes in the area. www.EveryoneOutside.org

Founded in 1935, The Rockfall Foundation supports environmental education, conservation and planning initiatives in Middlesex County. As one of Connecticut’s oldest environmental organizations, its mission is to be a catalyst-- bringing people together and supporting organizations to conserve and enhance the county’s natural environment. To learn more visit www.RockfallFoundation.org.

This Everyone Outside letterbox is on land that most people just assume is part of Wadsworth Falls State Park. It is actually a small preserve owned by the Rockfall Foundation that is referred to as Captain’s Field. This 16-acre Rockfall Preserve is open to the public and makes a nice extension to the park. Wadsworth Falls State Park was created through the generosity of the Rockfall Corporation (later renamed the Rockfall Foundation) and its founder, Clarence S. Wadsworth, who owned the 267 acres of land as part of his holdings that included Long Hill Estate (A.K.A. Wadsworth Mansion). According to his wishes, this land, the "Rockfall Tract of Great Falls Region," was donated to the state of Connecticut shortly after Wadsworth's death in 1941. Rockfall is named after the beloved rock falls in the park. It is fortunate Col. Wadsworth had the foresight to preserve this land for all to enjoy.