Past Events
Autumn Equinox Forest Bathing (Date change to September 24)
Time: 10:00 am-12:00 pm
Place: Banningwood Preserve, 19 Town Street, Lyme CT
Contact Email: regan@reganstacey.com
Join us in honoring the autumnal equinox as we turn towards the light within and restore balance for the season ahead. On this first day of fall, enjoy a mindfully guided walk through Banningwood Preserve as we awaken the senses and the body — connecting with the cycles of nature and all of life.
The walk concludes in Diana’s field with a wild-foraged tea.
Folding stools are available for your use, or bring along your own stool or sit mat.
The walk is about 1-mile over easy to moderate terrain.
Registration: $32 ~ includes the program and tea
Lyme Land Trust members receive a 15% discount with code: LLT15
Register here.
This is a rain or shine event.
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, environmentalist and yoga instructor, whose passion is to re-connect humans to nature for the betterment of themselves, their communities, and our planet, Earth. She is also co-founder of The Forest Therapy School, training forest therapy guides to share this work around the world. Locally, she is involved in a number of nature-based organizations and facilitates kids’ clubs through the Lyme Land Trust. You can find out more about her work at reganstacey.com
Tuesday Trek: Young Preserve
Time: 9:00 am -11:00 am
Place: Young Preserve on Gungy Road, 1/2 mile north of the intersection with Beaver Brook.
Contact Email: anthonyinlyme@gmail.com
Presenter: Tony Irving
A bit of a climb to the top, then the trails are mostly flat and easy with abundant mountain laurel and mature forest. Meet at Young Parking lot on Gungy Road, 1/2 mile north of the intersection with Beaver Brook.
Contact: anthonyinlyme@gmail.com
View the Tuesday Trek Schedule
Join us for a refreshing morning walk on a Lyme preserve led by a board or staff member of the Lyme Land Trust. The leaders will alternate each week between Sue Cope, Wendy Hill, Tony Irving, and Kristina White with Brady, canine guide. The walks are about two hours and are moderately easy unless noted. Bring a water bottle and dress for the weather. Reservations are required. Contact walk leader to reserve.
Sheltering in Nature: Transforming an Ordinary Backyard into Pollinator Habitat and an Opportunity for Nature Photography
Time: 4:00 pm
Place: Zoom
Contact Email: education@lymelandtrust.org
Award-winning photographer, Illustrator, and author Patrick J. Lynch and his wife Susan Grajek, began making simple, inexpensive changes to make their fairly ordinary backyard into a friendlier habitat for wildlife of all kinds. This didn’t require expensive or complex landscaping — just a steady, incremental commitment to plant thoughtfully for wildlife. In this virtual slideshow tour with gorgeous photographs, Patrick will show us the vibrant colorful landscape that has evolved. He will also share with us how he creates beautiful macro photographs of this biodiverse backyard environment as inspiration for the Lyme Land Trust’s Imagining Lyme program. Learn about taking great photos from a professional photographer.
Please register with Sue.cope@lymelandtrust.org. A link will be sent to you for the zoom program, but in case you don’t receive it, here is the link for the program:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 814 8526 2503
Passcode: 428194
One tap mobile
+13126266799,,81485262503#,,,,
+16468769923,,81485262503#,,,,
Patrick J. Lynch is the author of many field guides, the most recent of which is A Field Guide to the Mid-Atlantic Coast, published by Yale University Press in April 2021. He is currently working on a field guide of the Connecticut River.
Co-sponsored with the Lyme Pollinator Pathway.
Learn and Restore Native Habitat-Volunteer Work Day at Hartman Park
Date: Sat September 17, 2022Time: 1:30 - 4:00 pm
Place: Hartman Park. Meet at the Main Entrance.
Contact Email: openspace@townlyme.org
Help us restore a healthy native woodland around the Lee Farm site in Hartman Park. Learn to identify the beneficial native plants we want to keep and the invasive plants we want to remove. Four years ago, the area was overrun with barberry and other invasives. After several years of brush hogging and pulling, we are close to making the area invasive free. We will remove the invasives. Bring along heavy duty gloves and clippers. A root-extracting tool, like a pick ax, will be helpful. Bring a bottle of water. A snack will be provided. The Lee Farm site is about 1/2 mile from the entrance.
Please register: openspace@townlyme.org
Inclement weather Cancels.
Directions: The Hartman Park Main Entrance entrance is on Gungy Road about 1.5 miles north of the 4-way stop signs at the intersection of Beaverbrook Road, Grassy Hill Road, and Gungy Road.
September Astronomy Observing Session
Time: 7:30 - 9:00 pm
Place: Register to learn location
Contact Email: scott.mallory@gmail.com
Young or old, experienced or totally unfamiliar, we look forward to exposing you to our uniquely dark skies here in Lyme. Our last session was amazing. We had strong attendance, and it included children and adults, locals and visitors. (A family from California visiting family in Lyme are our official farthest-from-home attendees.) The new observatory is in full motion.
The Lyme Land Trust offers public viewing sessions once a month near the new moon. Our cohorts have several different telescopes that are on display for your observing pleasure, and we now are pleased to have a modern 14″ Schmidt-Cassegrain housed in a permanent observatory structure. On any given night, public sessions will be co-facilitated by one or more of our talented cohort enthusiasts:
- Jon Dean
- Roger Charbonneau, Jr
- Scott Mallory
- Parag Sahasrabudhe
- Alan Sheiness
Reservations required. scott.mallory@gmail.com. Directions to the site and special guidance for those with heavy astronomy equipment will be provided upon registration. Park in the designated area and walk to the observing field with its amazing panoramic views of the heavens. Dress for temperatures 10-20 degrees lower than forecast for your comfort. No white lights at the field site, please. For more information about the astronomy program See amazing astrophotography by Parag Sahasrabudhe – Velology blog
Tuesday Trek: Roaring Brook Preserve-CANCELLED
Time: 9:30 am -11:30 am
Place: Roaring Brook Preserve, Day Hill Rd., Lyme CT
Contact Email: sue.cope@lymelandtrust.org
Presenter: Sue Cope
About 1 mile. Park along Day Hill Road. Walk through an old cedar grove and a quick steep decent through a hemlock stand down to the Roaring Brook. This is a dog-friendly hike! We will pause at the brook and let the pups splash around.
Contact: sue.cope@lymelandtrust.org
View the Tuesday Trek Schedule
Join us for a refreshing morning walk on a Lyme preserve led by a board or staff member of the Lyme Land Trust. The leaders will alternate each week between Sue Cope, Wendy Hill, Tony Irving, and Kristina White with Brady, canine guide. The walks are about two hours and are moderately easy unless noted. Bring a water bottle and dress for the weather. Reservations are required. Contact walk leader to reserve.
Lymes’ Senior Center Take-A-Hike Thursday with Wendy Hill
Time: 9:30 am -12:00ish pm
Place: Gillette Castle State Park, Ferry Road (Rte 148), Lyme Ct
Contact Email: sgould@oldlyme-ct.gov
We will walk up a beautiful walkway to the Castle and explore the route that was once a narrow gauge train trail. Beautiful CT River views and a tunnel. 2.5 miles. There are some hills.
Directions: Meet at the Hadlyme Public Boat Ramp parking lot by the Chester-Hadlyme Ferry. (Note: For google maps, search for “Chester-Hadlyme Ferry”. Make sure GPS sends you to Ferry Road in Lyme ( Rte 148), not Old Lyme.)
Reservations are required. Please email sgould@oldlyme-ct.gov or call 860-434-4127 to reserve your spot.
On the 2nd Thursday of each month the group will get together at various hiking areas in Lyme and Old Lyme. Hikes will be led by Wendy Hill, Open Space Coordinator of Lyme and the Vice President of Lyme Land Trust. The walks are moderate, unless otherwise noted. Bring a water bottle, dress for the weather and a hiking stick or pole if you would like. Everyone welcome. Inclement weather cancels the hike.
Sponsored by the Lyme’s Senior Center.
Tuesday Trek: Jewett and Pleasant Valley Loop
Time: 9:00 am -11:00ish am
Place: Jewett and Pleasant Valley Preserve, Macintosh Rd., Lyme CT
Contact Email: kristina.white@lymelandtrust.org
Presenter: Kristina White
2 miles. Park at Macintosh Rd Parking lot.
Contact: Kristina.white@lymelandtrust.org
View the Tuesday Trek Schedule
Join us for a refreshing morning walk on a Lyme preserve led by a board or staff member of the Lyme Land Trust. The leaders will alternate each week between Sue Cope, Wendy Hill, Tony Irving, and Kristina White with Brady, canine guide and start at 9:00 or 9:30am. Check schedule. The walks are about two hours and are moderately easy unless noted. Bring a water bottle and dress for the weather. Reservations are required. Contact walk leader to reserve.
August Astronomy Observing Session
Time: 8:00 - 9:30 pm
Place: Register to learn location
Contact Email: scott.mallory@gmail.com
Come join us at our Lyme observing site for an evening of stargazing. See the beauty that is the uniquely dark sky of Lyme CT.
On any given night, public sessions will be co-facilitated by one or more of our talented cohort enthusiasts:
- Jon Dean
- Roger Charbonneau, Jr
- Scott Mallory
- Parag Sahasrabudhe
- Alan Sheiness
Reservations required. scott.mallory@gmail.com. Directions to the site and special guidance for those with heavy astronomy equipment will be provided upon registration.
Park in the designated area and walk to the observing field with its amazing panoramic views of the heavens. Dress for temperatures 10-20 degrees lower than forecast for your comfort. No white lights at the field site, please.
For more information about the astronomy program
See amazing astrophotography by Parag Sahasrabudhe – Velology blog
Lyme Nix the Knotweed Days
Time: 8-10 am
Place: Whalebone Cove, Ferry Rd. Lyme CT
Contact Email: openspace@townlyme.org
Join our work party for the second year to remove invasive knotweed and learn to control Knotweed on your own property. Better yet, organize your own neighborhood Nix the Knotweed Day! We are in our second year of tackling the knotweed using the “method of 3s”: cut knotweed down to the ground and bag the plant material; 3 chops this growing season (May, mid-July, and mid-August) We will repeat this for 3 years to take care of the knotweed for good without using herbicide. The cuttings will be carefully disposed of since each little piece will regrow into a new plant.
We also will tend the new native plant garden at Reed Landing on Saturday, August 13. The garden was installed on May 14, 2022 under the direction of New England Pollinator Gardens. Come help and Learn about creating a native garden in your own yard. This project is made possible with grant form the Eightmile River Wild & Scenic Coordinating Committee.
Bring work gloves. For knotweed removal, bring clippers or loppers. Bring your own water bottle. Snacks will be provided.
Please register:
For Friday, Aug. 19 at Whalebone Cove: trughouse@comcast.net
For Saturday, Aug. 13 at Reed Landing and Old Hamburg Road: Openspace@townlyme.org
Sponsored by the Town of Lyme, Lyme Pollinator Pathway, Friends of Whalebone Cove, 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.
