Aicher Holzer Preserve
189.8 acres in Pomfret, CT
Parking: Small lot inside the stonewall near 151 Freedley Rd, Pomfret Center, CT
Trail Map Trails: 1 mile Rating: ★★☆☆☆
When I first added this location to the site I was a bit skeptical there would be trails to hike here, but I’m glad to say there is a nice stroll, a hill climb, and even a bit of wooded trail.
On my Fall 2022 visit I parked in the small parking area inside the stonewall off Freedley Road. The parking area is noted with a small sign between two active agricultural fields. The trail is a farm road leading down to small pond on Bark Meadow Brook. There is a nice stone bench with a view of the pond dedicated to the founders of the Wyndham Land Trust (George Jackson, Virginia Booth, Lois Orswell, Phillip James, and John Bigelow in 1975). Either beaver activity or recent rains had raised the water level just enough to cover the trail but I was able to hop over using some well placed stones and sticks.
From the pond the trail enters another active hayfield and begins to climb a 505 foot hill. Thick grass was thankfully only shin high and I followed the track of some machinery up the steep climb. There is a side path (not marked on the trail map above) about a third of the way up the hill that winds its way through the forest just north of the field and rejoins at the northwest corner. It has occasional worn blue blazes but seems to be roughly maintained and I took it on my trip back to the parking area. On the way up the hill I wanted to get to the summit and take in the view. It might be luck of the draw depending on the time of year you visit if this is easily accessible, but you get a decent view over the tree line which reminded me a lot of Knowlton Hill or Horsebarn Hill.
The trails follows the line of the field to the corner where a narrow path (and a hay bale that rolled down the hill) connects to another field which you can follow out to Harrisville Road where this is rough parking across the road.
It is also occasionally the site of Civil War reenactments.
History:
Land preserved in 1998 and 2005.
The preserve was logged in January to April of 2020 by Hull Forestry primarily of White Ash trees due to the anticipated arrival of the Emerald Ash Borer and the high prevalence of ash trees on the property.
Links:
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Last updated October 11th, 2022
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