Harvey Preserve

I Imagined Seeing a Rabbit
Harvey Preserve, Chaplin
December 2025

This is a Joshua’s Trust property. If you don’t get the rabbit reference(s), just ignore it. They don’t mean anything.

I enjoy hiking in the winter. I really do. No bugs, not sweat in the eyes, fewer ticks… but even I, an avowed winter lover, can admit that the woods are prettier at other times of the year.

I was just looking for information on this property and found some pictures of it on the Joshua’s Trust Instagram from the summer. It’s an entirely different place. Lush green grass framing the footpath… wildflowers… greenery in every direction.

All we get from me here today are the browns and grays of December. Plus a few pine trees of course. And a six-foot tall rabbit that kept me company.

When I hiked this, the Harvey Preserve was the Trust’s newest trail on its newest property. I have a feeling the trail I hiked, a 1.2 mile flat loop, will likely be expanded upon in future years. That’s because Samuel Harvey’s 2023 donation was 180 acres – the second largest in this history of Joshua’s Trust!

I believe it extends over to the Tower Hill Preserve and includes some pretty sections of Stonehouse Brook. (Coincidentally, Tower Hill is the largest donation the Trust has received to date. Chaplin has a lot of unpopulated land in case you didn’t know.) Let’s see what the Trust has to say about this…

The Harvey family ownership of the land goes back to the 19th century when one of Sam’s ancestors was part owner of a sassafras mill along Stonehouse Brook. When Sam’s grandfather died in 1950 the Chaplin estate was divided into three parts: one part each going to Sam’s dad (another Sam Harvey), his uncle, John Harvey, and his aunt, Margery Harvey. When Sam retired around 1994 he moved to Chaplin with a goal of putting his grandfather’s farmland back together. In just a few years he was able to purchase the outstanding parcels which luckily were still owned by relatives. The property that Sam gave to the Trust permanently protects this historic property with over 2,000 feet of frontage on North Bedlam Road, and over 3,000 feet of frontage on Federal Road. The property abuts a larger, unfragmented forest and other open space that contain high-quality habitats for a variety of wildlife. It also protects both sides of over 2,500 feet of the Stone House Brook which includes over 1,000 feet of scenic gorge including several waterfalls. The Trust plans on developing a trail on the property which showcases these impressive features.

Okay, so, yeah. I’ll very most likely be returning to the backwoods of Backwoods Chaplin to do another hike within the Harvey Preserve. That’s fine, it’s a nice area. And perhaps I’ll hang out with my rabbit friend again.

The trail I hiked in late 2025 had some cool stone features and… let’s get back to this generous Sam Harvey fellow.

Sam was an accountant who spent most of his childhood and adult work life in Maryland. He was very proud of his Southern and his Chaplin heritage. He cherished his childhood visits to his grandfather Samuel’s farm in Chaplin. The Harvey family ownership of the land goes back to the 19th century when one of Sam’s ancestors was part owner of a sassafras mill along Stonehouse Brook.

A sassafras mill you say? That’s cool. When I was a boy scout, we used to make sassafras tea. You just boil the roots and root back for a while; until the water turns red. Then you drink it. It tastes like earthy, lemony root beer.

I completed the Harvey loop, marveled at the rather large parking lot, said goodbye to the tall rabbit, and hit the road. If, in the future, Tower Hill trails connect to Harvey trails, this will be a pretty rad place to spend a couple hours.

Joshua’s Trust
CTMQ hikes Joshua’s Trust’s Trails