Search
Close this search box.

Guyot Walk Restoration Project

guyot walk

The Guyot Walk is a hidden gem of natural serenity located in the center of Princeton. The path is named for a former Princeton resident, Arnold Guyot (pronounced ghee-YO), who taught geology at Princeton University. It shelters a dose of unrestrained greenery and has long provided a shortcut to school for biking children, a break for families, and dog walkers. For years it has been lovingly cared for by neighbors and enjoyed by the community. This year, a number of community-wide workdays were planned to help with invasive species removal and native plantings.

Visit Guyot Walk

Located between Carnahan Place and Moore Street, and accessible at Jefferson Road and Harris Road. Guyot walk is pictured in the Google map below as a green line on Guyot Ave:

Fall 2023

Fall plantings took place on Saturday, September 30 and Sunday, October 1. Neighbors removed invasive plants and planted the following native plants and trees:

Botanical Name Common Name
Amelanchier × grandiflora “Autumn Brilliance” Serviceberry
Anemone canadensis
Canada anemone
Aronia arbutifolia “Brillantissima”
Red chokeberry
Clethra alnifolia “Sixteen Candles”
Summersweet
Cornus Florida “Cherokee Princess”
Flowering Dogwood
Dryopteris marginalis
Evergreen Wood Fern
Geranium maculatum
Cranesbill – Spotted
Ilex glabra “Densa”
Inkberry Holly
Ilex opaca “Dan Fenton” Dan Fenton American Holly
Ilex verticillata “Red Sprite”
Red Sprite Winterberry
Lindera benzoin
Spicebush
Lobelia cardinalis
Cardinal flower
Matteuccia struthiopteris Ostrich Fern
Myrica pensylvanica
Bayberry
Packera aurea
Golden Groundsel
Polystichum acrostichoides
Christmas Fern
Rhododendron maximum
Roseum rosebay rhododendron
Sambucus canadensis “Adams”
Elderberry
Solidago sphacelata “Golden Fleece”
Goldenrod
Viburnum prunifolium
Blackhaw Viburnum

Make sure to stop by Guyot Walk this fall to enjoy the autumn foliage.

IMG 0661
IMG 0664
Clethra alnifolia, Summersweet

May 2023

The second spring workday took place on Saturday, May 13, and both neighbors and volunteers planted a variety of native plugs and trees and removed invasives like Norway maple Acer platanoides and Japanese honeysuckle Lonicera japonica. The following native varieties were planted: American Witch-Hazel Hamamelis virginiana, Highbush blueberry Vaccinium corymbosum, Blackhaw Viburnum prunifolium, American Beech Fagus grandiflora, White Wood Aster Eurybia divaricata, White snakeroot Ageratina altissima, Heartleaf foamflower Tiarella cordifolia and Golden Ragwort Packera aurea.

IMG 0006
IMG 0012
IMG 0015
IMG 0017
IMG 0020
IMG 0027
IMG 0028
IMG 0029
IMG 0031

April 2023

On Saturday, April 1, 2023 the neighborhood hosted the first community-wide workday. About 20 residents, directed by neighbors familiar with species identification, dug out the yellow Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna) and replaced them with native flowers and shrubs. 

0F7D3F2F 8053 43DA 90BF 3D3D477D1D51 2
6105F3BF 528D 47E8 A672 A7D5870E72C7 2
4738BE16 B3DE 48E2 A7F0 227B24CFA0A8 2

A total 124 native plants were planted including the following varieties: Shooting star (Primula meadia), Wild blue phlox (Phlox divaricata), Wild ginger (Asarum canadense), American Beech (Fagus grandiflora), Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica),  Nannyberry Viburnum (Viburnum lentago), Possumhaw Viburnum (Viburnum nudum), and Virginia bluebell (Mertensia virginica). Watch for the flowers at the junction of Harris Road and Guyot Walk—they should bloom in early summer. All species are hardy and chosen for their potential to out-compete the celandine.

559A8022 2E7A 4338 BB10 74E2054853E8 2
B96DF60E B8CB 4B14 911E 4E077E896A89 2
394C0B15 9866 4A87 A064 23C4A614A039 2

The project has been supported by Princeton Municipality’s Open Space Manager, Cindy Taylor, with plants, contacts, and expert advice; the Municipal Arborist, Taylor Sapudar, who replaced diseased ash trees with oaks and redbuds; Princeton Public School Facilities Department, who saw to the removal of rubber crumb that spilled into the brook and equipment along the fence; and Princeton Public Works, who emptied the trash.