Submit up to three of your favorite spring photos to share. The Lyme Land Trust program Imagining Lyme: A Visual Exploration of Lyme’s Preserves encourages everyone to expand their visual awareness and highlight the beauty of the Lyme preserves owned by the Lyme Land Trust, the Town of Lyme, The Nature Conservancy, or the State of CT  by taking photographs prompted by inspiration from professional photographers and artists. Amateur photographers may submit photos. Photographers do not have to be residents of Lyme but all photos must be taken in Lyme in any of these places:

1. Lyme Preserves owned and/or managed by the Lyme Land Trust, Town of Lyme, The Nature Conservancy, and the State of CT.  View a map of the preserves
2. Pollinator/wildlife habitat with native plants in Lyme – May be in a backyard, local farm, preserve or in a Lyme Pollinator Pathway garden in Lyme, CT.
3. Trail 53 – The clear sky above Lyme.

For more information and to submit photos

About a 2.5-mile walk, with a moderate incline to the overlooks and back. We’ll check out the vegetation that has emerged after the bluff meadow restoration work that was carried out in March.

Register: openspace@townlyme.org

View the Tuesday Trek Schedule

In June, visit the Gnome trail to search for gnomes at Pleasant Valley Preserve. Click here to see the Family Gnome Hunt  map. Meet at the parking lot on MacIntosh Rd.

Join Tori and family on the 4th Sunday of every month for a “mile-ish” hike geared towards families with children under 5, but no age limit!

Kindly email vharris1391@gmail.com to register.

Tori is a Mom of two littles – Kade, 4 yrs, and Quinn, 1 yr. Hiking and wandering in the local preserves, has really given her family the safe space to let Kade run loose and has a calming effect on Quinn. Working full time, volunteering in many organizations and finding time to enjoy the outdoors with the whole family, can be tough, but it is worth it!

For more information about the preserves and directions. 

Take a walk of discovery with insect expert, Katherine Dugas from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.

Space is limited. Registration is required. Register: education@lymelandtrust.org

This is part ofthe Wild Lyme project. Channel your inner Charles Darwin to discover species both new and familiar to you. Along with the joy and wonder of exploration and identification, you’ll contribute to modern-day biology through citizen science.For more information on the Wild Lyme Project and how to install and use iNaturalist. For more information on the Bioblitz Team.

Co-sponsored with Lyme Pollinator Pathway and Town of Lyme

Please join us for our annual meeting which will include the nomination and voting for new board members, annual financial report, and presentation of volunteer of the year. Everyone is welcome.

Following the meeting, we will have a presentation: Ethnobotany of Southern New England: Plant Knowledge of Indigenous Peoples by Manuel Lizarralde, Professor in Ethnobotany at Connecticut College. Professor Lizarralde will talk about the history and culture of the indigenous people who lived inSouthern New England, and the native plants that have provided food, medicine and everyday use for thousands of years.

Registration required: kristina.white@lymelandtrust.org

Directions: The Lyme Land Trust Conservation Center is at 12-1 Town Street. Park across the street in Banningwood Preserve first field. Handicapped parking on site.

Young or old, experienced, or totally unfamiliar, we look forward to exposing you to our uniquely dark skies here in Lyme. We have several different telescopes that are on display including a 14″ Schmidt-Cassegrain housed in a permanent observatory.

Registration required. Upon registration you will receive a link to directions and observing session guidelines.

For more information and to register: Astronomy Events

Welcome in the season of summer with a guided mindful stroll along the meadow, river, and forest of Pleasant Valley Preserve. Enjoy a gentle mindful movement sequence, nature meditation, and opportunities to connect with the natural world along the way. In honor of the summer solstice, we’ll create a nature-inspired mandala with flowers and items collected from the forest. The session concludes with tea together.

The walk is about 1-mile round trip over easy to moderate terrain.

Registration: free
Register here.

Rain or shine event. Challenging weather cancels.

Forest bathing is inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin-yoku – taking in the forest atmosphere. As a growing global wellness movement, it is backed by nearly 40 years of scientific research on the holistic benefits of immersing yourself in nature. These benefits include reduced stress and blood pressure, increased creativity and focus, improved mood and sleep, and a boost to immune functions. 

Regan Stacey is an artist and advocate for the Earth whose passion is to reconnect humans to nature for personal and planetary well-being. She believes we can all awaken the forest within. She is co-founder of The Forest Therapy School, a forest therapy guide training program. Through her private practice, she offers forest bathing walks, mindful nature retreats, and mindfulness training. Regan is also the facilitator of the LLT Tree Collective, connecting teens to nature through stewardship, education, and exploration. Find out more about her work at reganstacey.com or theforesttherapyschool.com

Join us for an exploratory walk with the Connecticut Botanical Society at Brockway Hawthorne Preserve. This 82-acre preserve helps protect the Whalebone Cove watershed, with wetlands, vernal pools, mature forest and a healthy hemlock stand. The trail passes former pasture and an abandoned quarry. 

Directions and Parking: We will meet at the main parking lot for the Brockway-Hawthorne Preserve on Brush Hill Road, Lyme, about 1/2 mile south of Hadlyme Four Corners. For a trail map.

Please Pre-register with Lisa or Wendy below. Raindate: June 26

Leaders: Lisa Wahle, lcwahle@gmail.com, 860-304-6184, Wendy Hill, openspace@townlyme.org.  

Sponsored with the Lyme’s Senior Center.

View the Take-a-Walk Wednesday Schedule

A short steep incline opens to a beautiful expanse of meadow. We will walk along the mowed path to reach our destination, Whale Rock, a spectacular outcropping with views of Lord Cove and the CT River. Bring your binoculars. 1.5 miles 

Directions: Parking is along the road near 33 Coult Lane, Old Lyme. Coult Lane is a small road on the west side of Rte 156 just south of the Lyme’Old Lyme border. From Halls Rd, Old Lyme, travel 2 miles north on Rte 156. take a left onto Coult Lane. The preserve is about 1/2 mile in on the right. Look for a mailbox with 33 Coult Lane on it.

Cancelled due to rain – will reschedule shortly. Walk the white and red loop past stone walls and streams. Some wet areas. Roughly 2.5 miles or so.

Register: kristina.white@lymelandtrust.org

View the Tuesday Trek Schedule