PUBLISHED IN July 2020 by Aspetuck Land Trust Executive Director David Brant in Westport Library Magazine.

By It’s hard to forget March 12th when we were all told to stay home. The outdoors seemed like a scary place where you could potentially get infected with the COVID-19 by a too close neighbor or jogger.

At Aspetuck Land Trust, we stuck to our mission and kept all our 44 hiking preserves open so everyone could be outside safely. Even when all the National Parks closed.

Demand was strong, became troublesome after towns closed their beaches and parks, and went nuts when the state recreational website listed Sherwood Island and our Trout Book Valley Conservation Area as two places to go hiking! While it is our largest preserve at 1,009 acres, it hardly has parking like a state beach.

Luckily for us, our Ranger, Jim Wood, is a retired 35-year Fairfield police veteran with plenty of traffic control experience. He was in charge that first weekend morning when the main parking area was filled to capacity soon after opening. Then, about 500 other cars drove by looking to park. “The stream of cars was constant,” he said, “It never stopped all day!” Trout Brook Valley has parking at five entrances and Jim directed people to them giving them printed hiking maps. A van filled with people from Tibet did the right thing: dropped off their passengers and drove off. The Weston Police then closed the main lot, but later only on weekends as the Land Trust committed to staffing the site.

Since March, we’ve received dozens of emails and phone calls from appreciative residents. Our biggest reward came on May 14th when The New York Times reported that scientists believed we had done just the right thing: outside was the safest place to avoid getting COVID-19. It was like learning years ago that preserving 1,940 acres of open land starting in 1966 was the perfect thing to fight the climate crisis.

When Gov. Lamont finally suggested everyone take a hike, Aspetuck Land Trust was open and ready, having never stopped offering our resources free to everyone.

On our trails everyone must still maintain safe distancing, have masks at hand to use when other hikers come nearby.

Visit us at AspetuckLandTrust.org to find the perfect preserve close to you and printable maps.

Westport Preserves

Leonard Schine Preserve & Children’s Natural Playground. Amazing natural playground and easy trails through woods.

Guard Hill Preserve. Open fields and meadows and a trailed wooded hill.

Eno Marsh Preserve. Home of a spectacular Tulip Tree.

Allen Salt Marsh. Non-trailed but spectacular viewing of Mill Pond salt marsh wildlife and scenery.

Hilla Von Rebay Arboretum. Wide open space of former lawns and gardens, specimen trees and wooded wetlands.

Peter’s Gate Preserve. A wildlife-only preserve bordering Fairfield.

Caryl & Edna Haskins Preserve. Former estate with rare specimen trees throughout and beautiful lawns, two ponds, a stream and wooded trails to hike.

Newman-Poses Preserve. Well-established trails through woodland, wetland and open fields with a trail along the Aspetuck River.