Long Pond Preserve
143 acres in Thompson, CT
Parking: Small pull-off near 29 Ragina Ave, Webster, MA
Trail Map Trails: 1.2 miles Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
This hike holds the distinction of being the only ExploreCT hike I’ve done to start outside the state and come back in. Unfortunately no sign welcomes you back to the state at the border. In fact the whole place is pretty unceremonious. The access trail has signs warning off ATVs and dirtbikes which apparently have been a real problem here in the past. Honestly though the trails here do lend themselves more to that activity than to hiking.
The trail soon forked and I explored a bit down the right fork which is part of the abandoned gravel Jackson Road and has others branching off. I turned around and head back to the fork taking the left which is lined on either side by a thicket of undergrowth. It soon opened into a field with birdhouses and forked again. I really just wanted to get to the pond so I took the right fork.
At the next field were more birdhouses and more forking trails and none provided a view of the pond unless I pushed through waist high grass and bush. Most of the rest of the trail you can tell there is open marsh but the the trailsides are too thick to see it.
The Wyndham Land Trust site does have some nice photos that I wasn’t able to get.
History:
The area was preserved in four stages. The first 76 acres in January 2017, a second 24 acres purchased in November 2018, a third 13 acres donated by the Weiss family in October 2020, and a fourth the 30-acre Wieloch Preserve–is separated by Jerry’s Swamp from the land trust’s Long Pond preserve donated in 2003.
Links:
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Last updated September 13th, 2022
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