#MiddleburyCT #MLT #Hike
The author pauses during a hike in the Fodder’s Folly Preserve to enjoy the autumn colors seen from the dam on the south side of Larkin Pond. Two large rocks on the north side of Long Meadow Road about 2/10 of a mile from South Street mark the entrance to the preserve. (Kent Sullivan-Wiley photo)
By JANINE SULLIVAN-WILEY
November is a great time to go for a walk or a hike. A walk is often defined as being on an even, paved surface. That means forays on Middlebury Land Trust (MLT) properties are hikes because pretty much all of the trails there include rocks or tree roots, as well as plenty of wetlands, muddy areas, streams and ponds. In November, however, they also have fewer bugs and ticks.
One hiking gem that’s not heavily used is the Clark Preserve, covering just over 38 acres. This may be the best if you’re seeking quiet. The entrance is on East Farm Road, past No. 7 on the right and across from a metal railing. For a nice roughly one-hour hike, go right after entering, and follow the red trail pretty much to its end (where it enters the Flanders’ Hetzel Preserve); then return along the blue trail. You will pass large rock outcroppings (I always wonder what must live in those) and Mirey Dam Pond. Along the way a white trail loops to the right, and a yellow trail cuts between the red and blue. Save those for your second visit.
Wear good shoes because you will cross several sections of tumbled rocks, two wooden bridges, and streams wandering between the rocks. Unless it’s been very rainy, you can do this without getting your feet wet. Mountain laurel thickets fill several places. Find a downloadable trail map with all but the newest white trail on the MLT website, middleburylandtrust.org/holdings/trail_maps.
Those looking for many trails and options, also with mapped trails, can consider the Nichols Road (formerly CT Water Co) preserve. Also the future site of the regulations-delayed dog park, it offers over 139 acres bordered by large Army Corps of Engineers and town of Naugatuck acreage and trails, as well as a connection to the Larkin Bridle Path. It’s a good spot for a long, wandering ramble. Varied habitats include a vernal pool and wetlands. Enter on Shadduck Road, across from Leonard Road.
Birders will find both forest and a pond in the Sperry Preserve, also with a downloadable map. It has a very easy to follow white trail, as well as other longer trails. The entrance is behind the MLT Sperry House just beyond the dirt driveway at 312 Park Road extension.
Currently without a map but with nice trails is the 43-acre Tuttle Preserve, with a trailhead – flanked by stone pillars – located between 780 and 811 South Street on the north side of the street.
Larkin Pond can be seen from South Street and reached by a short trail in the Fodder’s Folly Preserve off Long Meadow Road. The start of the trail is flanked by large rocks on the north side of the road, about 2/10 mile from the junction of Long Meadow and South Street. There are not, as yet, any established trails but it is possible to make your way around the pond. The preserve includes fields used by a local farmer and features rocky outcroppings, wetlands and forest.
For a short excursion, consider the Crest Preserve with its entrance across from and just north of our public library. This is one you can even take a toddler on, with its short loop trail. It goes through wetlands and marshy areas, but there are wooden boardwalks through most of that.
The easiest to follow trail, but not in terms of footing as there are a lot of tree roots, is the picturesque Lake Elise.
Lastly, if you just want to sit, or walk no more than a few minutes, there is Turtle Pond, at the juncture of Whittemore and Tucker Hill Roads.
Contact this writer at jswspotlight@gmail.com. You can visit the Middlebury Land Trust on Facebook or the website at middleburylandtrust.org. Happy hiking!
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