Meet at Selden Creek Preserve parking on Joshuatown Road. We will walk up the ravine, to the overlooks and then circle back through Brockway Hawthorne. 2.5 miles.  Arduous in some areas.

Register: kristina.white@lymelandtrust.org

View the Tuesday Trek Schedule

The Tree Collective is a program designed to engage young conservationists ages 14-18 in outdoor fun and education while working to maintain trails in our beautiful town of Lyme, CT. It is sponsored by the Lyme Land Trust under the leadership of environmentalist/artist Regan Stacey. Each time we meet, we offer a different topic, often with a hike and trail work in a selected preserve.

Tools and gloves provided.

For more information. 

Registration required: reganstacey@gmail.com.

Click on flyer to enlarge.

Sponsored with the Lyme’s Senior Center.

View the Take-a-Walk Wednesday Schedule

The unique natural, historic and archeological features in Hartman Park make it a delight to explore. We will look for spring wildflowers. About 2 miles. 

Directions: The parking lot is about 1.5 miles north of  the intersection of Gungy Rd, Beaver Brook Rd, and Grassy Hill Rd. In Lyme. From the Hall’s Rd Old Lyme traffic light, travel north on 156 for 6.6 miles. Turn right onto Beaver Brook Rd and travel 2.7 to left at intersection.  

April showers bring May flowers. What do May flowers bring… Pilgrims! I doubt we will see any pilgrims on this 1.75 mile hike in the center of Lyme, but I am looking forward to a hilly hike with some lookouts and early habitation sites. With luck we might also see some May flowers!

Contact: ryan.p.quinn@gmail.com

View the Tuesday Trek Schedule

Join our work party to remove invasive knotweed and other invasive plants, and tend the natives that have been planted in their place. Learn to control Knotweed on your own property. We will also to the Reed Landing gardens, and check on the 50 plants that were installed at Union Triangle on the corner of Rte 156 and Old Hamburg Rd. We are in our fifth year of tackling the knotweed using the “method of 3s”: cut knotweed down to the ground and remove the plant material; 3 chops each growing season (May, mid-July, and mid-August). The cuttings must be carefully disposed of since each little piece will regrow into a new plant. The knotweed has been highly reduced where we have used this method but we still have to cut back the ones that persist and new ones that come up from seeds.

Bring work gloves, clippers or loppers. We’ll provide the bags! Bring your own water bottle. Snacks will be provided. 

Please register: (walk-ins welcome) Openspace@townlyme.org

Sponsored by the Town of Lyme, Lyme Pollinator Pathway, and Lyme Land Trust.

Japanese knotweed is an invasive plant which crowds out native plants that pollinators and other wildlife depend upon for survival. For a brochure on Nix the Knotweed Method of 3s.

This event is cancelled due to weather. Bird migration is in full swing, so we will listen for birdsong and look for birds along the gentle-to-moderate 2.5-mile walk through mixed and deciduous forest. Binoculars will be good to bring, but are not essential.

Register: Jim.arrigoni@lymelandtrust.org

View the Tuesday Trek Schedule

Join Jim Natale, naturalist and amateur botanist, on a ramble through Johnston Preserve to identify all types of plants, focusing on spring ephemerals and mosses. Jim, who is an expert identifier, has been submitting observations to the iNaturalist app for six years. He has logged an amazing 39,291 observations. On the walk, he will demonstrate how you can upload your observations to support the Wild Lyme Project and its mission to catalog and compare the biodiversity of preserves protected by the Town of Lyme, The Nature Conservancy, and the Lyme Land Trust. Participants wishing to record observations to iNat should bring a smartphone, camera, or both. All skill levels are welcome, from experienced to those who have never used the iNaturalist app.

Space is limited. Register: education@lymelandtrust.org

Jim Natale is owner of Wilder Gardens, LLC, whose mission is to establish a regional native plant garden community, exposing the people to the beauty of our natural world and promoting the stewardship of our natural areas for the benefit of wildlife and mankind.

This event is part of the Lyme Land Trust Wild Lyme Project. You are welcome to join the Mini-Bioblitz team to be part of more events like this.

Join us for a work party as part of habitat management to encourage healthy native plants in a small meadow. Learn about meadow management and how to identify invasive and native plants.We will focus on removing woody invasive species from the field edges.  We will be working on winged euonymous (aka burning bush), autumn olive and barberry, and creating brush piles from the material that will be cut. The effort will benefit native woody shrubs and trees, including highbush blueberry, spicebush, ironwood and more.

Tools needed for the morning will be lopping shears, hand pruners,  hand saws, and chainsaws.  Please bring water and work gloves and be sure to wear long sleeves and long pants. Snacks will be provided. 

Please Register:
openspace@townlyme.org Wendy Hill, Town of Lyme Open Space Coordinator

Sponsored by the Town of Lyme, The Nature Conservancy, and the Lyme Land Trust.

Directions:
From the north, travel Route 82 to Route 156; take Route 156 south for 2 miles to right on MacIntosh Road; travel 0.25 mile on MacIntosh Road, and parking for the preserve will be on the right.
From the south, in Old Lyme, take exit 70 off of I-95. From the intersection of Route 1 and Route 156, travel north on Route 156 approximately 6 miles, and take a left onto MacIntosh Road; travel 0.25 mile on MacIntosh Road, and parking for the preserve will be on the right.   

The indigenous peoples of New England left an indelible mark on the landscape through their creation of a variety of stone structures reflecting their deeply held spiritual beliefs. This hike in Hopkington, Rhode Island will feature two separate ceremonial sites just a few minutes drive apart. The main site is one of the most amazing ceremonial sites in the state, consisting of over a thousand cairns in perhaps 10 acres, while the second site features other types of constructions found throughout New England. Documentary photographer Markham Starr will lead the walk. Hike is easy but wear sturdy footwear. Walking sticks are recommended. Bring your own bottle of water or beverage. 

This walk is full. Send an email to be put on the wait list. Space limited to 15. Email education@lymelandtrust.org

Native Americans built several distinct types of structures in our area, ranging from cairns to stone serpent effigies, and these spiritual offerings remain standing in now long abandoned woods. While Native American stonework is widely recognized out west and to the south, New England’s stonework remains obscure, having blended back into the woods. We will walk about two miles.

Markham Starr is a documentary photographer concerned with the disappearing working cultures of New England. He is the author of a dozen books, providing glimpses into the lives of people such as commercial fishermen, farmers, and cannery workers, and has written about other subjects such as historic barns in Connecticut. His work has appeared in national magazines and is part of the permanent collection at the Library of Congress and other museums throughout New England.

We will visit two rock caves. Studies have shown that one of the caves was occupied seasonally as a winter shelter by indigenous people beginning at least 4255 years ago. Directions. Take Boston Post Road (Rte 1) to Boggy Hole Rd. Evergreen Trail is about 1/2 mile down on the left.

Register: openspace@townlyme.org

View the Tuesday Trek Schedule