Great Meadows Conservation Trust, 2023 Brisk Winter Walks
Join the GMCT Brisk Winter Walks for 2023. Walks are co-sponsored by the Land Heritage Coalition of Glastonbury, the Eleanor Buck Wolf Nature Center in Wethersfield, and Goodwin College.
Dress for the Weather and ground conditions, including mud or snow. Weather and water conditions may revise or cancel. These areas are used for hunting, so wear an orange vest if you have one. Call Jim Woodworth for the latest information, 860-808-9968.
Sunday, January 1, 1:00 pm, Wethersfield. About 1½ hours. Meet Jim Woodworth at 160 Middletown Ave, south of Maple St, on GMCT’s Wood Parcel. Enjoy the new Heritage Walk panels and accessible trail enhancements! Cross the shiny bridge and follow the trail along the marsh and around the loop past the 18th century house site. Hike will continue across the culvert by the Pond, and out along the edge of the farm fields that once hosted the original “Pyquag” Native American summer camp and along the marsh, across the Frechette Field Parcel, and the newly acquired Dowd Parcel.
Sunday, January 8, 1:00 pm, Rocky Hill. About 2 hours. Meet at the meadows gate at 78 Goff Brook Lane, off of Old Main St. Join Tim Lewis on a hike to several of our parcels in the Rocky Hill Meadows. We’ll walk the farm roads, take a turn around the new Goff Brook Trail in the DiPaola parcel, and walk out into the meadows, noting the Nature Conservancy flood plain forest study transect and the planting of DED tolerant Elm Trees.
Saturday, January 14, 11:00 am, Glastonbury. About 2 hours. Meet Whit Osgood at Earle Park (former Glastonbury Audubon Society Parking area) at 1361 Main St. We will take a short, moderately difficult hike up the trail over the bluff, across Holland and Hubbard Brooks, and north along the River to our Austin and Matava parcels in Glastonbury Meadows.
Sunday, January 15, 1:00 pm, Wethersfield. About 2 hours. Meet Larry Lunden at 258 Elm St, at the underpass under I-91. A long hike down to the River and along the farm road, now designated a Greenway, to our Wolcott and Crilly parcels in the Wethersfield Meadows. From I-91 south take exit 25 S to route 3 south, or from Glastonbury take route 3 south over the Putnam Bridge. Go past the first traffic light, make a U turn and come back to this traffic light. Turn right onto Elm St and park at the highway underpass.
Sunday, January 22, 1:00 pm, Wethersfield. About 1 hour. Meet Jim Woodworth at 412 Hartford Ave, corner of Jordan Lane, for a short walk through the gate to our Wolf Parcel and DeMille Easement on the Cove and Folly Brook. Stay for a longer walk, another two and a half hours, up Hartford Ave. and out along the Hartford dike that divides the Folly Brook Nature area from the South Meadows Industrial Park. We’ll walk through the area slated for “tree removal” for the Brainard Airport approach and learn about advantages of “shrub/scrub” and early successional habitats.
Saturday, January 28, 9:00 am, Wethersfield. Meet Jim Woodworth and Goodwin College’s Bruce Morton, Program Director of Environmental Studies, at the Putnam Park parking lot, 100 Great Meadow Road, just north of the Putnam Bridge. We’ll peel away the centuries to imagine the river bank before the bridge, and explore the 300+ acre Crow Point property owned by Goodwin College. We’ll observe the process of nature reclaiming the land and waterways excavated for fill to build the highway across the ancient farmland and wetlands of the Great Meadows.
Sunday, January 29, 1:00 pm, Glastonbury. About 2 hours. Meet Larry Lunden at 57 Point Rd, off of Naubuc Ave south of route 3 overpass. A long hike to our Dickau, Beers, Baril and Bidwell parcels in Point Meadows. Check out the progress on the on the Putnam Bridge bike trail! From I-91 take exit 25 N, route 3 north. Take the first exit to Main St Glastonbury. At the end of the ramp turn right and follow to end. Turn left and then right onto Point Rd, a small and difficult to see road. From Route 2, take exit 5 D to route 3 south. Take the first exit to Main St Glastonbury. At the end of the ramp turn left and follow to end. Turn left; go under the highway, and then right onto Point Rd.
Due to the bitter cold weather predicted for Saturday, we’ve postponed the Goodwin South Meadows Trail walk (Feb. 4th) to the following Saturday, Feb. 11 at 9am
Sunday, February 5, 4:30 pm, Wethersfield. As the winter twilight fades in the western sky, meet GMCT’s Mike Monroe and Bike Walk Wethersfield’s Kevin Sullivan, at the Keeney Center parking lot, 200 Main Street, Old Wethersfield. Walkers will stroll down Main Street to Wethersfield Cove Park (about 1 mile), walk through the parking lot to the Cove channel, under the I91 overpass and out to the River’s edge. The Snow Moon will rise above the trees on the eastern shore, giving a luster to the river below, as the sunset fades in the west!
*New Date* Saturday, February 11, 9:00 am, East Hartford. Meet GMCT’s Penny Rusnak and Rick Doran, Goodwin College’s Bruce Morton, Program Director of Environmental Studies, and Charley Smith of Land Heritage Coalition of Glastonbury at Hockanum Park, 324 High St. Explore our Wilson-Carvalho and Hockanum Meadows parcels in the “Wethersfield Triangle” of land marooned on the east side as the river meandered. We’ll Inspect the tree “obstruction removal” carried out by CAA on the approach to the Brainard field runway. We’ll explore the trails that Goodwin College has constructed with the help of DEEP trail grants and will soon pave from S. Meadow Rd. along the River to the Putnam Bridge.