CTMQ

Destroying the myth that there is nothing to do here

green mountain modern house
  • CTMQ’s Town Guides
    • Town Completion Celebrations
  • Museums
    • Museum Visits
  • Hikes, Bikes, & Paddles
    • CFPA Trails & Blue Trails Challenge
    • State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites
    • Land Trust Trails
    • Town Trails
    • Audubon, Nature Conservancy, RWA, and US Army Corps of Engineers Trails
    • Highpointing and Peakbagging
    • Cycling, Multi-Use, & Rails-to-Trails Paths
    • Water Trails
  • Food & Drink
    • Best, Historic, & Unique Restaurants & Foods
    • Classic Diners & True Taverns
    • Homemade Ice Cream, Cheese, & Chocolate Trails
    • Breweries, Brewpubs, & Cideries
    • Wineries & Meaderies
    • Distilleries
  • Everything Else
    • National Designations
    • Firsts, Onlies, Oldests, Largests, Longests, Mosts, Smallests, & Bests
    • Geography
    • Animals, Farms, Gardens, Plants, Trees, Rocks, Waterfalls, & Caves
    • Sports, Thrills, Cruises, Trains, Fairs, Parades, & Events
    • Houses, Communities, Urban Legends, Lighthouses, Libraries, Schools, Businesses, & Theaters
    • Towers, Bridges, Forts, Tunnels, Roads, Canals, Dams, Fishways, Airports, & Ferries
    • Religion, Remembrances, Statuary, & Outdoor Art
    • Cultural, Heritage, & Historic Trails
    • Books, Movies, People, & Stories
  • Non-CT
    • Travel & Vacations
    • World Soccer Stadium Tour
    • Highpointing and Peakbagging
    • Top 100 Novels Project
    • Oscar Movies Project
  • About
    • FAQ
    • Family
    • Smith-Magenis Syndrome
    • Press
CTMQ > Hikes, Bikes & Paddles > Land Trust Hikes > Aspetuck Land Trust Intro

Aspetuck Land Trust Intro

April 28, 2014 by Steve Leave a Comment

Aspetuck Land Trust
Bridgeport, Easton, Weston, Fairfield, Wilton & Westport

Knowing what I know of Easton and Weston, I would certainly expect there to be a large and organized land trust there. There is pretty much no development in those two towns – which is wholly by writ and design. The archaic bylaws of Weston are part of Connecticut lore for the few goobers like me who find this stuff interesting.

But I’m an even rarer breed: one of those goobers who cares about anti-development town bylaws who at the same time celebrates all the preserved open space such bylaws create and keep! Huzzah!

One doesn’t really think of hiking when one thinks of Westport and Fairfield though, which makes me almost more curious about the Aspetuck properties there. My only difficulty in ripping through all the properties is that they are quite far from my house in West Hartford. The land trust has fantastic maps online and all but one property appears to be small and easily hiked.

Let’s let them speak for a second:

Aspetuck Land Trust (ALT) was founded in 1966 to preserve open space in the towns of Westport, Weston, Fairfield and Easton. We provide passive recreation and educational opportunities for people to learn about and enjoy nature, while preserving the flora and fauna and rural characteristics of our towns. ALT maintains 45 trailed nature preserves and other conservation-only properties on over 1,700 acres of land. ALT has over 1,000 local members who support us through annual membership contributions.

Nothing novel there, other than the name. According to an old New York Times article, “The district gets its name from the Aspetuck Indians, who lived along the river. In 1670, they sold the land to English settlers for cloth, winter wheat and maize valued at $.36.”

I drove by Helen Keller’s former residence in the Aspetuck section of Easton which I only mention because believe it or not, that page gets lots of views.

(Actually, there is a lot of interesting history of the ALT here. They were one of the first organizations of their kind in Connecticut.)

Aspetuck Land Trust

In order to view the maps, you have to sign up with them online. Sure, you get a few emails every month as a result, but they are the good kind of emails, trust me. If you live down there, you should join the ALT. I can’t, simply because if I joined one, I’d have a thousand other organizations asking, “why them and not me?” Note: I do belong to a few statewide orgs, but not any local ones.)

The Preserves/Hikes:

If linked, I’ve hiked it.

Bridgeport

Great Salt Marsh Island (no real trails)

Easton

Island Pond Preserve
Pond View Preserve
Poindexter Nature Preserve
Randall’s Farm Preserve
Trout Brook Valley Conservation Area:

    Crow Hill Preserve
    Jump Hill Preserve
    Trout Brook Valley Preserve

Fairfield

Acorn Lane Upland Preserve
Ernest Hillman Preserve
Great Salt Marsh Island (With Bridgeport)
Harwood Preserve
Kirik Upland Preserve
Putnam & Rudkin Preserve

Weston

Benjamin Wildflower Preserve
Elisabeth Luce Moore Preserve
Freeborn Walk Trail
Fromson-Strassler Parcel
Honey Hill preserve
Jennings Woods Preserve
LeGallienne Bird Sanctuary
Lillian Squires Morton Preserve
Singing Oaks Preserve
Taylor Woods Preserve
Tall Pines Preserve
Trout Brook Valley Preserve
Walter Wagner Preserve
Wilton-Weston Connectors (potential future trails)

Westport

Allen Salt Marsh (not trailed, but interesting)
Caryl & Edna Haskins Preserve
Eno Marsh Preserve
Guard Hill Preserve
Hilla Von Rebay Arboretum
Leonard Schine Preserve & Children’s Natural Playground
Newman-Poses Preserve

Wilton

Honey Hill preserve
Stonebridge Wild Fowl Preserve
Wilton-Weston Connectors (potential future trails)

Aspetuck Land Trust
CTMQ’s Land Trust Trails Page

Facebooktwitterreddit

Filed Under: Hikes, Bikes & Paddles, Land Trust Hikes Tagged With: Aspetuck Land Trust, Bridgeport, Easton, Fairfield, Fairfield County, Weston, Westport, Wilton

Sponsored Links

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Become a CTMQ Patron!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo

Press & Media Inquiries

Latest Museum Visits

The heart of CTMQ

Totally Random Post!

Hamden Land Conservation Trust Trails Intro

Sponsored Links

Recent Comments

  • Brenda Rose Iaquessa on RWA: Lake Gaillard
  • ROBERT FINDLEY on SCELBI Computer Virtual Museum
  • Tom N. on 104. Buttolph-Williams House
  • Jamie on Onion Mountain Park
  • Rob on Plainville’s Prickly Pear Cacti
Disclaimer
Mission Statement
Copyright © 2023 - CTMQ