Edward R. Laby Memorial Preserve
81 acres in Killingly, CT
Parking: Just north of Killingly Pond State Park on Pond Road
Trail Map Trails: 1.3 miles Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
This style of trail is pretty typical for Wyndham Land Trust properties in my experience. The parking is a small pull-off/turnaround on gravel Pond Road just north of Killingly Pond State Park. This is actually the Connecticut section of the North-South Trail that I hiked a few years ago and wasn’t really looking forward to repeating.
The trail is starts behind a gate which fences off a driveway to some private property but the trail turns to the left and continues gradually uphill on another old woods road. Not much to see, but nice enough forest and it brings you to cross Quinns Hill Road.
Almost directly across is an ungated road that, while it is lined with no trespassing signs, is your access to the preserve. This access road is pretty rough with a few large puddles that required getting creative to cross with dry feet. There are also interesting grooved flat rocks and I startled off a young buck.
The trail climbs gradually until a wide opening on the left where the rocks almost look like a pad or foundation. A sign marking the preserve is hiding overgrown by trees to the left. Not much to say here either, the trail goes down into the woods and you turn around and come back. It may be a bit more of interest to mountain bikers but there are certainly better options.
Where the property really shines is preservation,
“The new preserve is part of a large forest interior extending east into Rhode Island and south into state forest,” said Land Manager Andy Rzeznikiewicz. “It’s a remote corner of Killingly, and Hermit Thrushes and Black-throated Green Warblers are two of the interesting, breeding forest birds known to inhabit this property.”
History:
Preserved in 2017 when it was donated by Anna May Scanlon.
Links:
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Last updated September 13th, 2022
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