Land Trusts

Land trusts are abundant in our state preserving properties of all sizes from development. There are 117 land trusts in Connecticut protecting 190,550 acres of land for hiking and recreation, ecological buffer zones, wildlife habitat, and undeveloped spaces. As of 2024 there are

89 single town land trusts
22 multi-town/regional
6 statewide

Land trusts are mostly non-profit and community based, seeking to preserve the forests, river corridors, farmland, watersheds, marshes, scenic vistas, and hiking trails in a given town or region. Land Trust are also largely volunteer operated and are a great way to get involved in your area.

A complete directory courtesy of the Connecticut Land Conservation Council can be found here:

Currently only the largest and regional land trusts are listed here. As this site continues to develop I hope this page will provide a more polished and complete representation of Connecticut’s land trusts.

Aspetuck Land Trust
Avalonia land Conservancy, Inc.
Wolf Den Land Trust (ECLFA)
Eversource Land Trust
Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust, Inc.
Great Meadows Conservation Trust
Heritage Land Preservation Trust
Joshua’s Trust
Kongscut Land Trust, Inc.
Middlesex Land Trust
Northern Connecticut Land Trust
Roxbury Land Trust
Waterford Land Trust, Inc.
Weantinoge Heritage Land Trust
Wintonbury Land Trust
Wyndham Land Trust

Whetten Woods

★★☆☆☆

41.807737, -72.239070

Nate and Theora Whetten Woods Joshua’s Trust Property 37 acres in Mansfield, CT Parking: At the Hope Lutheran Church near 62 Dog Ln, Storrs, CT Small lot… Read more…

Bernard Church Woods

★☆☆☆☆

41.818962, -72.153062

Bernard Church Woods Joshua’s Trust 37 acres in Chaplin, CT Parking: Shoulder parking near 385 Bujak Rd, Chaplin, CT Trail Map Trails: 0.5 miles …

Jones Mountain

★★★☆☆

161 Steele Rd, New Hartford, CT 06057

Jones Mountain Preserve New Hartford Land Trust 284 acres in New Hartford, CT Parking: Shoulder parking near 161 Steele Rd, New Hartford, CT Trail Map …

Dudley Barrows Woods

Unexplored

41.355052, -72.718223

Dudley Barrows Woods Guilford Land Trust 120 acres in Guilford, CT Parking: At Dudley Farm near 2351 Durham Rd, Guilford, CT Trail Map …

Wolf Rock

★★★☆☆

41.758975, -72.213081

Wolf Rock Nature Preserve Joshua’s Trust 108.3 acres in Mansfield, CT Parking: Shoulder parking near 62 Crane Hill Rd Storrs, CT Trail Map …

Allanach Wolf Woodlands

★★☆☆☆

41.709628, -72.137912

Allanach-Wolf Woodlands Joshua’s Trust 102.6 acres in Windham, CT Parking: Small lot near 164 Back Rd, Windham, CT Trail Map Trails: 1.5 miles …

Holt Kinney Woods

★★☆☆☆

41.764099, -72.206821

Holt-Kinney Woods Joshua’s Trust 21 acres in Mansfield, CT Parking: Shoulder parking at 76 Browns Rd, Storrs, CT or from Schoolhouse Brook Park Trail Map …

Smuggler’s Rock Preserve

★★☆☆☆

41.499400, -72.270975

Smuggler’s Rock Preserve Salem Land Trust 113 acres in Salem, CT Parking: Small lot at end of Salem Ridge Drive cul-de-sac Trail Map Trails: 1.8 miles …