Trails Day Weekend: More than 200 events planned statewide
Local hikers looking to hit the trails during Connecticut Trails Weekend June 6 and 7 will have a good selection of well-trod paths to choose from in southeastern Connecticut, along with two newly blazed ones.
In North Stonington, the Stewart Hill Preserve Trail will open June 6 with a guided hike from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Leading the two-mile hike through gently sloping woodlands with ferns, oaks, hickory, black birch and the headwaters of Yawbux Brook will be Mike Charnetski and Tony Rose, members of the town’s Conservation Commission.
The 25-acre preserve, owned by the North Stonington Citizens Land Alliance, is located on Wyassup Road, bordering Pachaug State Forest. Conservation commission members provided the volunteer labor to establish the trail.
“It’s been our goal to open all of the town’s open spaces to the public,” Bill Ricker, chairman of the conservation commission, said Friday. “This is the fourth trail we’ll be opening.”
In Lebanon on June 7 from 10 a.m. to noon, a 1.5-mile guided hike will take place on a new Blue-Blazed Hiking Trail at Whitney Forest. The 84.6-acre forest is owned by the Connecticut Forest & Park Association, which maintains a network of Blue-Blazed Hiking Trails across the state.
Statewide, there are about 225 hikes, paddles, educational walks, rock climbs and other outdoor events being offered for trails weekend, begun in 1993 by the American Hiking Society. In New London County alone, there are more than two dozen events planned.
Eric Hammerling, executive director of the forest & park association, said Friday that more than 200 individuals and groups, including land trusts and nature centers, partner with the association to host the events.
“We have the most events on trails weekend of any state in the nation,” Hammerling said.
Last year, about 6,000 participated in events on trails weekend, “but we’d like to see even more,” he said.
To increase participation, the association this year has enhanced its trails weekend website to make it easier for people to find the kinds of events they’re looking for. The site is now searchable by difficulty level, audience, type of event, day and town.
“We’re trying to make it easy for people to find out where the events are that they want to access,” Hammerling said.
In Southeastern Connecticut, events on Saturday, June 6, include:
• East Lyme: Oswegatchie Hills Nature Preserve educational walk, 9 a.m. to noon; Old Black Point educational walk, 10 a.m. to noon.
• Groton: Cross-town hike, 9:30 a.m. to 1 :30 p.m.; Beebe Pond Park hike, 10 to 11 a.m.
• Lebanon: Air Line State Park Trail nature walk, 8 to 10 a.m.
• Lyme: Nehantic State Forest / Nayantaquit Trail hike, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Nehantic State Forest / Nayantaquit Trail orienteering, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Lord Creek Farm, multiple activities, 10 a.m. to noon.
• New London: Connecticut College Arboretum educational walk, 9 to 10:30 a.m.
• North Stonington: Stewart Hill Preserve Trail hike, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.; Tefftweald at Birchenturn Preserve nature walk, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Norwich: Yantic River Greenway / Heritage Trail educational walk, 10 a.m. to noon.
• Old Lyme: Griswold Point educational walk, 9:30 a.m. to noon; Back Bay and Duck River paddle, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
• Salem: Walden Preserve educational walk, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
• Stonington: Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center hike, 10 to 11:30 a.m.; Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center Pond, educational walk, 1 to 3 p.m.
• Voluntown: Pachaug State Forest / Mount-Misery Pachaug Trail hike, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Pachaug State Forest / Narragansett Trail hike, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Rhododendron Sanctuary Trail nature walk, 1:30 to 2 p.m.
Events on Sunday June 7 include:
• Groton: Bluff Point State Park and Coastal Reserve educational walk, 9 a.m. to noon; Sheep Farm and Fort Hill Brook educational walk, 10 a.m. to noon.
• Lebanon: Whitney Forest educational walk, 10 a.m. to noon; Lebanon Town Green educational walk, noon to 4 p.m.
• Ledyard-Groton: Avery Farm and Candlewood Ridge, educational walk, 2 p.m.
• Montville: Camp Oakdale, letterboxing, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• New London: Bates Woods Park, educational walk, 1 to 2:30 p.m.
• Norwich: Estelle Cohn Memorial Dog Park, educational walk, 9 to 10:15 a.m.
• North Stonington: Hewitt Farm / Bicentennial Trail, hike, 1 to 2 p.m.
• Voluntown: Pachaug State Forest / Green Falls Pond Trail, hike, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
For information about registration and meeting locations, visit http://www.ctwoodlands.org/ct-trails-weekend.
j.benson@theday.com
Twitter: @BensonJudy
Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.