Greenwich Level Park

January 21 & 29, 2023 – Outdated Greenwich, Connecticut

Problem: Simple

Size: Roughly 6 path miles

Max elevation: 34 ft.

Map: Greenwich Level Park Map

Parking: 11 Tods Driftway, Outdated Greenwich, CT 06870

Paved parking tons – Restrooms on website

Hours: Open yr spherical, every day from 6am to sundown

Charges: You’ll want a non-resident Greenwich seashore go, or Single Entry seashore go. You should purchase these on-line. Be sure you buy a go for every particular person in your celebration and a separate go in your car. Passes are $10 per day per particular person and a parking go is $45.

November 1st via April thirtieth, no charges will likely be charged to enter Greenwich Level Park

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Park Overview:

Greenwich Level Park is a 147-acre City seashore and recreation facility in Outdated Greenwich, CT. Additionally identified by locals as “Tod’s Level,” it was the previous property of J. Kennedy Tod and lots of historic buildings nonetheless exist within the park. Amongst them are the Innis Arden Cottage, Seaside Backyard and Cowbarn Constructing, and the Chimes Constructing. Concessions, restrooms, picnic areas, and strolling trails are additionally discovered at Greenwich Level. House to Outdated Greenwich Yacht Membership, there may be additionally a boatyard and a launch for boats and kayaks. Greenwich Level Park is owned by the City of Greenwich and operated by Greenwich’s Parks and Recreation Division in coordination with the Conservation Fee.

Greenwich Level Park is located on the southerly aspect of Greenwich Cove. Greenwich Cove is positioned between Cos Cob Harbor and Stamford Harbor within the “Outdated Greenwich” part of city. The park is actually an island, linked to the mainland by a causeway which helps the park entry highway often known as Tod’s Driftway.

There are seven parking tons within the park, 5 of that are paved. The topography ranges from sea stage to a most elevation of +40 ft Above Sea Degree (ASL). Nearly all of the park lies inside 10-20 foot ASL, with three pronounced knolls rising above the encircling panorama, within the western, central and jap parts of the park.

Greenwich Level Park is a Acknowledged Necessary Chook Space (IBA) and because of the park’s peninsular geography and the number of habitats accessible, it is a crucial migrant stopover habitat for a lot of species of birds. Good numbers of waterfowl winter offshore and in Eagle Pond, many raptors go the park in fall migration and the park acts as stopover habitat for a few of them.

Within the winter, the Level is a well-liked place for canine walkers to stroll their canines. Leashed canines are allowed on the Level from December 1 to March 31.

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Historical past:

The Level was identified by the Siwanoy Indians as “Monekewaygo” (shining sands). Beginnning in 1640 with the acquisition by Elizabeth Feake, the Level was often known as “Elizabeth’s Neck.” Following its buy by the Tods within the 1880’s, the Level was often known as “Innis Arden. Tod and his spouse, Marie Howard Potter Tod, owned the land and its property from 1884 to 1939, the yr she died. He willed the property to New York’s Presbyterian Hospital.

On January 10, 1945, the City of Greenwich bought Tod’s Level and the Innis Arden property for $550,000. Upon acquisition, the City modified the title of the peninsula from Innis Arden (or Tod’s Level) to Greenwich Level, a designation it retains, though many proceed to name it Tod’s Level. The City made speedy modifications to its new property, together with the renovation of the Tods’ formal walled backyard, identified right this moment because the Seaside Backyard, by the Backyard Membership of Outdated Greenwich. As well as, the Outdated Greenwich Boating Affiliation, which later turned the Outdated Greenwich Yacht Membership, transferred its headquarters to Greenwich Level.

For a extra detailed historical past, scroll to the underside of the web page for exterior hyperlinks.

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Trails Overview:

Paved Loop – Greenwich Level has a 2.25 mile paved loop that provides a scenic alternative for strolling and jogging, in addition to, curler blading, biking, and in-line skating.

Seaside Loop – Greenwich Level additionally gives an exquisite 2.35 mile seashore loop. After chopping off from Tod’s Driftway you can be on a packed sand and small stone path that permits enjoyment of the ever altering marsh.

There are trails that wander away from each the Paved Loop and the Seaside Loop in the direction of the inside of the park which might be price exploring as properly. You’ll encounter much less folks alongside these trails.

On Sundays 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM from mid November to mid April the Mates of Greenwich Level in cooperation with the Greenwich Division of Parks and Recreation, sponsors Protected Roads. Guests can benefit from the open roads as all roads previous the principle parking tons are closed to vehicular site visitors. Nevertheless, an occasional automotive is permitted to go underneath sure circumstances, so please bear in mind.

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Hike Overview:

I had this park on my record for a few years, however was hesitant to go there due to the “residents-only coverage.” Little or no data was accessible on-line and the park’s web site was unclear about non-residents visiting the park. Quick ahead just a few years and I discovered that: “In 1968, a Greenwich residents-only coverage was instituted on the Level, however that restriction was lifted when the Supreme Courtroom of Connecticut overturned it in 2001.” They do cost a hefty charge for non-residents in season, however November 1st via April thirtieth, no charges are charged to enter Greenwich Level Park.

We visited this park on two consecutive weekends. On our first go to, it was fairly chilly and we caught to the westernmost part of the park, visiting the stone ruins, Seaside Backyard, and so forth. We solely walked about 1.5 miles, though we drove a loop via the park firstly and picked out a spot to park. The pink line on the map under signifies our strolling route on that day. The next week, we started on the first car parking zone, simply previous the unique entrance gate and walked clockwise. The purple monitor signifies the route we walked on that day, which totaled about 3.4 miles. The terrain is generally flat with about 30-40 ft of elevation acquire.

Though we coated many of the park on our two visits, there may be extra to see that’s not listed right here. That is the kind of park that’s price visiting greater than as soon as.

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Factors of Curiosity:

• Sue H. Baker Pavilion on the Outdated Barn ~ Initially constructed by the Tods in 1887, the outdated livestock and storage barn is the oldest surviving construction at Greenwich Level. As soon as the city bought the property in 1945, the barn underwent many renovations till, eventually, it housed a concession stand, a primary support station, and lifeguard lockers.

In 2012, Superstorm Sandy pummeled the shoreline with 80 miles per hour winds and tidal floods. Whereas the barn had already been slated for renovation by the Greenwich Level Conservancy, completion of the $650,000 mission turned pressing. In 2015, the renovated construction was renamed the Sue H. Baker Pavilion on the Outdated Barn in honor of the co-founder of the Conservancy.

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• Innis Arden Cottage ~ In 1903, the Tods added a visitor cottage simply south of the entry highway to their property. Innis Arden Cottage was constructed to offer a short lived dwelling for Maria Tod’s widowed sister-in-law, Mrs. Cranston Potter, and her three younger daughters. The women attended the all-girl faculty, Rosemary Corridor, in Rock Ridge for a short while earlier than the household returned to their dwelling within the state of Washington.

From 1906 via 1913, the Tods made the Cottage accessible as a summer time retreat for Anna C. Maxwell and her nursing college students from the New York Presbyterian Hospital. Maxwell, sometimes called the “American Florence Nightingale,” carried out pioneering work within the improvement of the nursing career. The Tods’ help of the hospital, and Maxwell particularly, likely derives from J. S. Kennedy’s tenure as president of the hospital’s board of administrators. In addition to donating a million {dollars} to determine a nursing faculty on the hospital (now often known as the Columbia College Faculty of Nursing), Kennedy additionally advisable Maxwell to be its first director. Maxwell was one of many first ladies to be buried with full navy honors at Arlington Nationwide Cemetery.

From the again of  Innis Arden Cottage, trying barely northeast, about 1.5 miles away, the Stamford Harbor Ledge Lighthouse is seen on a transparent day. The sparkplug lighthouse was in-built 1882 and was manufactured in Boston. It was added to the Nationwide Register of Historic Locations in 1991.

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• Unique Entrance Gate ~ The unique entrance gate to Innis Arden, the 147-acre property of Mr. and Mrs. J.Kennedy Tod. It’s positioned between Innis Arden Cottage and The Outdated Barn. The Gate Lodge which was in-built 1887, was destroyed by fireplace in 1904.

A plaque mounted on one of many stone columns, particulars a number of the historical past of the constructions positioned throughout the park.

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• 375th Anniversary Plaque ~ On Founders’ Day, July 18, 2016, the city hooked up a commemorative bronze plaque to a small boulder on the bluff on the southeastern tip of the Level. The plaque contains a duplicate of the unique deed to the land they now name Outdated Greenwich.

The plaque additionally incorporates the city’s coat-of-arms designed in 1940. The design contains a windmill representing the city’s early Dutch affect, a horse’s head for Horseneck (an early title for the land between the Mianus and Byram Rivers), a plow for the agricultural historical past of the founders, a ship from the coat-of-arms of Greenwich, England, and a clamshell representing the early maritime commerce within the city.

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• Eagle Pond ~ As you head farther out on the Level, you come to the northern land bridge at Eagle Pond; throughout the Pond is the southern land bridge. Tod created each to attach the 2 islands. Tod thought of himself a naturalist and constructed the Pond as a fowl sanctuary, populated by swans, pelicans, and geese.

View over Eagle Pond in the direction of the Lengthy Island Sound from the Innis Arden Home Website. The skinny strip of land between the Pond and the Lengthy Island Sound, is the southern land bridge.

View of Eagle Pond from Mansion Street.

The Pond takes its title from the eagle sculpture that Tod put in in 1905 on the small island on the southern aspect of the Pond. Native Stamford sculptor and New York hotelier James Knowles created a brand new bronze eagle for the island in 1979 via the generosity of Helen Binney Kitchel.

Ospreys construct a stick nest on high of the 14-foot wingspan of the eagle annually from which they will simply see their enemies approaching. The sculpture and nest are finest considered from the jap aspect of the pond.

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• The Holly Grove ~ Mr. and Mrs. Allan Farrand Kitchel donated twenty-one totally different species of holly to the city in 1959 in celebration of their fiftieth wedding ceremony anniversary. In 2016, the Mates of Greenwich Level, in celebration of their sixtieth anniversary, started working with the city to revive the Holly Grove. Along with clearing brush, trimming bushes, and planting new hollies, they rebuilt the doorway submit with a brand new signal.

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• Innis Arden Home Website ~ J. Kennedy Tod was among the many rich elite of New York who made the Connecticut coast their playground. Quickly after he married Maria Howard Potter, whereas residing in NYC, they started buying acreage on the Level on which they deliberate to construct their summer time cottage. By 1887, that they had secured title to many of the peninsula. By 1889, the home was full.

The fashion of the manor home was eclectic and uniquely suited to the positioning. It was designed within the Excessive Victorian Gothic and American Romanesque types. Thirty European stonemasons, having been delivered to America particularly for this work, constructed the 37-room mansion and its environment.

This magnificent home needed to be torn down in 1962 because it wanted in depth repairs and required more cash, time, and a focus than the general public coffers may present.

The stone mansion and property constructed by railroad tycoon J. Kennedy Tod was the peak of seaside luxurious. Tod, who was born in Glasgow, Scotland, named it Innis Arden, Gaelic for the excessive meadows.

Mr. and Mrs. Tod had no youngsters. They handed away on this home in 1925 and 1939, respectively. After Mrs. Tod handed, the property was in the end given to the NY Presbyterian Hospital to website a convalescent hospital.

The City of Greenwich bought the property in 1945 and, subsequently, transformed the mansion into 13 flats for returning WWII veterans. Hire was nominal. Roughly 30 veterans’ households lived within the former mansion over the following 15 years. Solely the “tower” and a part of the muse stay.

The view over Eagle Pond and past.

The paved highway main from the Innis Arden Home.

Stone steps on Mansion Street, by the west aspect of Eagle Pond.

Mansion Street.

Mansion Street.

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• The Seaside Backyard ~ As talked about earlier, J. Kennedy Tod joined two islands collectively. The island to the west has twin peaks. The Seaside Backyard occupies the northern peak and Innis Arden Home, the southern peak. The Tods commissioned Marian Cruger Coffin to design and construct the walled backyard in 1918.

In 1945, the Backyard Membership of Outdated Greenwich restored Mrs. Tod’s walled backyard. In 1964, the Knollwood Backyard Membership assumed duty for the care and preservation of the backyard.

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• Shell Seaside ~ is a strip of shoreline that’s coated in sea shells alongside the westernmost part of the park.

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• Views ~ Surrounded by water on three sides, Greenwich Level Park, on a transparent day, affords magnificent views of the Lengthy Island Sound, with the New York Metropolis skyline to the southwest. To the north there are views over Greenwich Cove.

Views are just about all over the place you stroll. Under is a view of Eagle Pond from the southern finish of Mansion Street.

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• Wildlife ~ Formally designated an Necessary Chook Space, Greenwich Level Park, is a superb place to observe birds yr spherical. Migrating songbirds, shorebirds, flycatchers, hawks and extra cease by in spring and fall, a wide range of waterfowl feed within the waters of Lengthy Island Sound within the winter, and summer time brings breeding birds and waders.

On our go to we noticed a wide range of waterfowl and loads of seagulls, however the prize was watching a Bald Eagle soar overhead and land in a tree by the car parking zone close to the unique entrance gate, shortly after we arrived.

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Assessment:

This park is completely attractive and the quantity of people who flock right here, even in winter, confirms it. On our first go to, it was within the low to mid 30’s and I used to be fairly stunned at how many individuals had been strolling round. Though there have been many individuals out strolling, fairly just a few with their leashed canines, it by no means felt crowded. Foot site visitors is generally concentrated alongside the paved paths/roads. There’s a lot to see and {photograph} right here, so deliver your digital camera and test it out for your self.

Execs:

Scenic panorama, historic options, attractive views, serene setting.

Cons: 

Hefty charges in season for non-residents, attracts crowds year-round.

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Sources:

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