Doris Chamberlain Nature Preserve

Doris E. Chamberlain Nature Preserve

Andover Town Park

69 acres in Andover, CT

Parking: Medium sized dirt lot near 95 Hebron Rd Andover, CT or the rear of the Andover Elementary School or from the Hop River Trail nearest parking at the lot on Monument Ln, Andover, CT

Trail Map         Trails: 2.5 miles         Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Hiking

I started from the dirt lot off Hebron Rd/Rt 316.  The trail navigates around a marshy pond and was a bit overgrown during my late-June visit.  At around 1/3 of a mile the trail reaches the back of the Elementary School and becomes much better traveled from there.

The main trail is the yellow blazed Percy Cook Trail which provides a meandering one mile connection to the Hop River Trail.  Exiting the Nature Preserve onto the Hop River Trail, your hike could be extended with an easy half-mile stroll to the covered bridge over Rt 316.

Mountain Biking

There are several mountain bike trails that criss-cross the main trail.  I followed nearly all of them and they wind back and forth on themselves in the typical fashion.  I don’t have the technical jargon to accurately describe them but they’re pretty straightforward without any of the log and rock features I’ve seen on other trails.  Mud on the trail showed that only one bike had been through recently.

History:

It’s unclear when this property was established but best guess is the early 2000s.  The preserve is named from Doris E. Chamberlain who was principal of Andover Elementary School from 1946 to 1971.

Links:

• CTMQ – Doris Chamberlain Nature Preserve (2019)

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Last updated July 3, 2019