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Fun Things to Do, Beautiful Things to See

Hikers who visit the newly protected Preserve on Connecticut Trails Day, Saturday, June, 4, will be visiting a 1,000-acre coastal forest—located primarily in Old Saybrook with smaller sections in Essex and Westbrook—that is home to more than 25 species of amphibians and reptiles, 30 species of mammals, and 57 species of birds. In addition, The Preserve is part of a 6,000-acre area that has other large, protected tracts of forestland. It is home to the Pequot Swamp, a stopover for many species of migrating, neo-tropical birds this time of year. The Preserve encompasses three watersheds, 114 acres of wetlands, and 38 productive vernal pools, some of which are favored by increasingly rare northern dusky salamanders and red-spotted newts.

But the best thing about certain sections of The Preserve, according to Chris Cryder of Old Saybrook, who will be leading the hike at the Preserve on Connecticut Trails Day from a trailhead in Westbrook, is what it doesn’t have.

“There are some spots where you get away, completely, from all of the noise,” Cryder says. “You get away from the road noise from I-95. You get away from the road noise from Route 153. You might occasionally hear a steam train whistle, or a plane flying overhead. But there are spots here where you really feel like you’re far away in a deep, dark forest. You really feel like you are out in nature.”

The hike at The Preserve is one of more than 200 events statewide, and many more nationwide that day. There are events from North Haven, and down along the shoreline all along to Old Saybrook, and up to Chester and Essex. There are hikes, gentle walks, kayak trips, letterbox events, and even a trolley ride.

The trolley ride is part of an event being sponsored by the Shoreline Trolley Museum in East Haven, and the Branford and East Haven sections of the Shoreline Greenway Trail (SGT), which is currently under construction and will ultimately run from Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven to Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison.

Barbara Brow, the chair of the trail section in East Haven, says the Connecticut Trails Day event has been popular in past years, drawing more than 100 people.

“It’s all people who love the outdoors. Families show up. And it’s a diverse group, older people, younger people, children,” she says.

SGT Chair Judith Miller, who will be leading the Connecticut Trails Day event with Leo Cristofar, says the event will start with a free trolley ride out to a platform, where the group will get out and walk out on a peninsula toward Farm River, to where it empties into Long Island Sound.

“It’s the Farm River estuary, and it’s a beautiful area,” she says, adding that the area is both geologically and historically important: It is at the edge of a traprock mountain that starts in Long Island Sound and runs all the way up to Springfield, Massachusetts, and the hike will include a look at a crushing plant that used to produce crushed rock for sale.

“It’s a very popular day. It’s an easy walk. Dogs are welcome. Children are welcome,” she says.

Eric Hammerling, executive director of the Connecticut Forest & Park Association (CFPA) said the events are just two examples of many that day. A full listing can be found at www.ctwoodlands.org/ct-trails-weekend/events-2016.

He said he is going to be participating in several, including one on Sunday, June 5 at the state’s newest park, Auerfarm State Park Scenic Reserve, a 40-acre property in Bloomfield that was part of the larger 230-acre Auerfarm owned and run by the Auerbach family. The property provides views of Talcott Mountain, and from the city of Hartford along the Connecticut River Valley up to Springfield, along with habitats that include woodlands, apples orchards, and grasslands.

“We’ve been helping to coordinate a Connecticut Trails Day since 1993, when it first started, and we are looking forward to once again really exposing people to a wide variety of fun things to do and beautiful things to see all across the state.”

Editor's Note: This story was changed on May 24, 2016 to accurately reflect the year Connecticut Trails Day started, in 1993.