Katan-Ensor Preserve

Thanks to easy access from the end of Strong Road the trails here start in bucolic settings passing an old farm gate down a country lane with views of an old barn.  Opening into a clearing with gazebo and rock retaining walls is the true trailhead for the property with a map and ample history of the preserve.

I started off on the red trail heading off into the forest gradually gaining elevation on well packed trail.  The trail begins to get rockier as it forks into a tiny loop and then switches over to yellow crossing into the Schlicht Preserve.  The trail actually heads downhill on very rocky trail, but the rocks are very helpful on what appears to be often wet trail.

Then begins a long quarter mile steep climb passing large boulders and erratics up through the forest.  A hard left turn takes you to the Scarlet Tanager Overlook for fantastic views east.  Unfortunately I visited on a rainy morning and as a fellow hiker I passed coming down said, “the view is all socked in”.

After the overlook I completed the yellow loop spotting the unfurling ferns of spring and even a bright orange salamander. I caught the blue trail on the way back and it’s likely the most rugged of all the trails on the property climbing through thick terrain to a seasonal view through the trees.

Trails here felt surprisingly quick, but offer enough destinations to keep you revisiting, I know I’ve got to return to see the whole view from the overlook.

The first 94 acres of the Schlicht Preserve was donated by Bob and Doreen Schlicht to the Granby Land Trust in 2005. The remaining parcels, totaling 69 acres, were purchased by the trust in a bargain sale in 2017. The Garmany Preserve was purchased with a grant from the Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving in 2010. The Katan Ensor Preserve was acquired in 2019 when it was donated by Charlie and Joan Katan.  The combined Old Messenger Road Preserves opened on July 31st, 2021.