Past Events
Lyme Trails Boot Camp – Postponed
Date: Sun June 17, 2018Time: 1:30-3:30pm
Place: Hartman Park, Gungy Road, Lyme
Contact Email: openspace@townlyme.org
Presenter: Lyme Land Trust and Town of Lyme
This program will be rescheduled in the fall.
Do you love Lyme preserves and want to help maintain them by becoming a trail volunteer or a preserve steward? Please join us for a trail maintenance boot camp at Hartman Park in Lyme to learn what you can do on your own or as part of a work party. You will find out how to recognize the most common invasive plant species that we are working to control in the preserves. Strategies for preventing tick bites will be discussed. You will be introduced to the free smart phone app TrackKit. Using GPS, the app tracks your path and allows you to mark location on trails to best report a problem or downed tree. This app can also assist you if you get lost. Preserve stewards have a bit more responsibility than trail volunteers: they monitor a preserve, may be asked to respond to a trail report, and lead work parties if needed.
Bring along heavy-duty gloves and light-weight tools: weeders, pruners, and/or loppers. Bring water. Snacks will be provided.
Meet at the Main Parking Lot of Hartman Park on Gungy Road, about 1 mile north of the 4-way stop signs at the intersection with Beaverbrook Road and Grassy Hill Road.
Registration required: Openspace@townlyme.org
If possible, it is asked that the app be downloaded before you come to the workshop. Instructions to download of the app TrackKIt will be forwarded to you at registration if requested.
Volunteer Work Party at Hartman Park
Date: Sun June 3, 2018Time: 9:30-11:30 am
Place: Hartman Park. Meet at the power lines right-of-way entrance.
Contact Email: openspace@townlyme.org
Presenter: Town of Lyme
Please come pitch in to help on the Orange Trail at Hartman Park. We will install a bridge made by Thom Lamourine, and take care of other maintenance work. There are fallen trees to remove from the trails and encroaching vegetation to be trimmed. Bring along heavy duty gloves and tools; weeders, pruners, and/or loppers. Chain saws and power weeders are welcome. Bring water. A snack will be provided.
Rain Cancels.
Directions: The Hartman Park power line right-of-way entrance is on Gungy Road about 2 miles north of the 4-way stop signs at the intersection of Beaverbrook Road, Grassy Hill Road, and Gungy Road.
Photo by Wendolyn Hill
CT Trails Day Walk
Time: 9:30 - 11:30am
Place: Slawson Preserve Parking at 435 Hamburg Road, (Rte 156). Lyme CT.
Contact Email: openspace@townlyme.org
Join us for a walk at the Lyme Land Trust’s Slawson Nature Preserve with Lisa Wahle, the ”Bunny Lady”, a biologist who works on young forest habitat restoration; and Mark LaCasse, Master Wildlife Conservationist and professional land manager of one of the abutting private lands; and Emery Gluck, who manages habitat restoration at Nehantic State Forest as part of CT DEEP Division of Forestry.
We will see Phase 2 of the on-going process to improve the land for the benefit of the threatened New England cottontail rabbit and other species that depend upon young forests. On last year’s walk, we saw the results of Phase 1: the vegetation regrowth on 25 acres that had been cleared several years ago on private property adjacent to the preserve. This Fall 2017, the Land Trust began Phase 2: the harvest of trees from the Slawson Preserve.
The Land Trust, private landowners, and the State have agreed to harvest mature trees over a 6 to 10-year period to create an environment that is suitable for young forest species. As the cleared areas grow back, it will create the desirable young brushy environment where the bunnies find food and protection from predators. Staggering the treatments will ensure that this successional habitat is available for a longer time. This process is beneficial to more than 50 species of greatest conservation need including prairie warbler, ruffed grouse, indigo bunting, American woodcock, wood turtle, and blue spotted salamander. Interested residents can find more information about bunnies here.
Parking is available at 435 Hamburg Rd (Rte 156), Lyme, CT. Follow the dirt driveway to the parking area. We have permission to park at the end of this long private driveway for this special event only. No dogs please.
Reservations Recommended (in case of cancellation): openspace@townlyme.org
Rain Cancels.
For the CT Trails Day Directory of Walks 2018.
Chestnut Hill Volunteer Work Party
Date: Wed May 30, 2018Time: 9:30-11:30am
Place: Chestnut Hill Preserve, Sterling Hill Road, Lyme
Contact Email: stewardship@lymelandtrust.org
Presenter: Join us for Trail Trimming
Join us for a trail trimming work party at Chestnut Hill Preserve in Lyme. We will hike and trim the orange trail led by Sue Cope, Lyme Land Trust Environmental Director. We will cut back branches that are encroaching on the path as we walk. Bring along heavy-duty gloves, clippers and loppers.
Rain cancels.
Directions: Rt. 156 to Sterling City Road (either by Tiffany Farm or the Hamburg Fairgrounds). Go about 1 mile. Turn onto Sterling Hill Road. Chestnut Hill entrance is about 0.5 mile on the right. Parking is along the side of the road.
Tour de Lyme 2018
Time: starting at 8 am
Place: Ashlawn Farms, Bill Hill Road, Lyme CT
Contact Email: info@lymelandtrust.org
Presenter: Lyme Land Conservation Trust
Please join us for the sixth annual Tour de Lyme cycling event with beautifully scenic routes for all ages and levels. We’re looking forward to seeing you!
REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN! TourDeLyme.org.
The Lyme Land Trust inaugurated Tour de Lyme in 2013 as an annual bike ride to raise funds to support its mission of preserving and protecting environmentally important land in Lyme.
Volunteer Work Party at Mt Archer Woods
Date: Thu May 3, 2018Time: 9:30 am-12:00 pm
Place: Mt Archer Woods Preserve
Contact Email: openspace@townlyme.org
Please join us from 9:30 to 12:00 for a work party at Mt. Archer Woods Preserve in Lyme to continue clean-up of the historic ruins area. Come for all or part of the time. Bring heavy-duty work gloves, loppers and any other tools that you think will be helpful to remove invasives and clean up fallen limbs. Chain saws and power pruners are welcome.
The ruins are a little more than a half-mile in on the white trail. There will be refreshments!
Park at the Main Parking Lot of Mt Archer Woods on Mt Archer Road in Lyme.
Directions from Rte 156: Rt. 156 north to Mt. Archer Road. Left onto Mt Archer Road. Go one mile on Mt Archer Road (bear left up the big hill). The parking lot is down a long driveway on the left, the 4th long driveway after you start up the hill. Look for the stone post marker that has âMt Archer Woods Town of Lymeâ written on it. It faces the road, so you canât read it until you are on top of it. (If you get to 100 Mt. Archer Road, you have gone too far).
Please let me know if you are planning to be there. openspace@townlyme.org
Photos by Wendolyn Hill, work party on April 10, 2016
Trailblazers – Walk at Hartman Park
Date: Tue May 1, 2018Time: 9:30 am
Place: Meet at Hartman Park Parking Lot
Contact Email: openspace@townlyme.org
Presenter: Lyme Land Conservation Trust and Town of Lyme
Join us for this moderate walk in the woods.
On this hike, we will explore the red trail at the Hartman Park section of the Lyme Corner Trails led by Wendolyn Hill, Lyme Land Trust board member and Open Space Coordinator for the Town of Lyme. We will see activity of the extended beaver family, and walk through diverse habitat over beautiful rocky ridges. The hike is about 2.5 miles long with an option for short cuts along the way.There are exposed roots on some of the trails and a few inclines. Everyone is welcome.
Rain Cancels.
The Hartman Park Entrance is on Gungy Road about 1 mile north of the 4-way stop signs at the intersection of Beaverbrook Road, Grassy Hill Road, and Gungy Road.
Earth Day Family Fun for All Ages
Date: Sun April 22, 2018Time: 11:00am - 2:00pm
Place: The Diana and Parker Lord Nature Center, Banningwood Preserve, Town Street, Lyme
Contact Email: stewardship@lymelandtrust.org
Presenter: Lyme Land Trust
Earth Day Events at Diana’s Field –- 11:15 am: Live Bird of Prey presentation by A Place Called Hope
- 12:30: Guided Audubon Ecology Walk with Jim Arrigoni of Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center
- 12:30: Bug Discovery in Roaring Brook with the Eight Mile River Wild and Scenic Coordinating Committee
- 11:00 – 2:00: Fun in the Field with Lyme Park and Rec
- Scavenger Hunt
- Bring your own picnic and blanket!
Earth Day Weekend – Walking Our Glacial Past – A Walk and Talk with Anthony Irving
Date: Sat April 21, 2018Time: 9:30-11:30am
Place: Register to learn parking location on Keeney Road, Nehantic State Forest
Contact Email: openspace@townlyme.org
Presenter: Lyme Land Trust and Town of Lyme
Anthony Irving, Lyme Land Trust board member, Chairman of the Eightmile River Wild and Scenic Committee, and well-known ecologist, will lead a Talk and Walk at the new 125-acre parcel on Keeney Road in Lyme that was acquired by the State of Connecticut in 2017. The preserved land has been incorporated into the existing 1,925-acre Nehantic State Forest to the south. The property has a unique topography, a product of glacial retreat from about 15,000 years ago. Some of the walk will be off trail. The walk is family friendly and will take about 2 hours.
For more information about the property, go to page 10 of the Summer 2017 newsletter.
Rain date: Saturday, April 28 at 9:30 am
Register to learn parking location: openspace@townlyme.org
Trailblazer walk – Griswold Point, Old Lyme
Date: Thu April 12, 2018Time: 2:30pm to 4:30ish
Place: Meet at parking lot for White Sands Beach, Old Lyme
Contact Email: openspace@townlyme.org
Join us for this easy walk in Old Lyme along the beach of Long Island Sound. Everyone is welcome.
This week’s hike starts at White Sands Beach as we explore Griswold Point Preserve in Old Lyme, led by Wendolyn Hill, Lyme Land Trust board member and Town of Lyme Open Space Coordinator. We will walk along the beach at low tide and go as far as we can on Griswold Point. It is a wonderful spot for bird-watching. The osprey are returning. Bring your binoculars and water bottle. We will walk about 2 miles.
Rain cancels.
Directions: From I-95N Exit 70, follow Rte. 156 south for about 3 miles. Take a right onto Old Shore Road. Go 0.5 miles and turn right onto White Sands Beach Road. Follow straight to the White Sands Beach Parking Lot.
photo by Wendolyn Hill
