Join The Trails Day Hike—

Explore Newtown’s Hidden Brooks And Meadows

 By Kendra Bobowick

I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence: two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. —Robert Frost

Both unfamiliar steps and the tread of practiced feet are welcome to walk through one of Newtown’s open spaces on the first Saturday in June. To celebrate Connecticut Trails Day — part of National Trails Day — on June 4, the Newtown Forest Association has scheduled a hike through its Brunot Preserve at 10 am. Meet at the Brunot parking area and trail head on Taunton Hill Road.

Visitors should arrive early and bring proper footwear, clothing, sun/bug spray, and something to drink. The hike will take visitors approximately four miles through the new yellow trail and red trail loops. A shortcut via the white trail will bring guests back to the parking area, cutting the hike in half. The rain date is Sunday, June 5,at 1 pm. Visit the NFA website at www.newtownforestassociation.org for more information.

Guests are welcome to join a guided tour of a new trail network and learn about additional land acquisitions, geocaches, and see the results of a recent Eagle Scout project onsite.

New NFA board member Aaron Coopersmith had spearheaded a yellow perimeter trail project, expanding the property’s hiking space. Dr Coopersmith wanted to extend paths offering escapes through “meadows, rolling hills, a cedar forest and brooks; it’s a secret, a hidden treasure,” he said.

An avid hiker and Newtown native, Dr Coopersmith said, “I love the outdoors and wanted to give back to the town that has given me so much.” The Brunot Preserve and its additional trails is “a great piece of property,” he said. Referring to the yellow trails, he said, “It’s one of my trails and I hope to create many more.”

The new trails “expand visitors’ ability to explore the boundaries of this preserve with a variety of ecosystems,” Newtown Forest Association Treasurer Guy Peterson wrote in a recent e-mail. Previously, the trail was limited to going from the parking area straight through the middle of a 70-plus-acre preserve to hidden meadows, which was “nice,” Mr Peterson said, but “didn’t explore the other natural beauty this preserve has to offer.”

Mr Peterson wrote, “This new trail showcases the preserve’s diversity as it meanders from the Taunton Hill Road trail head, past three enormous glacial erratics, and through the woods, wetlands and meadows.” The yellow perimeter trail extends from the existing white trail, which is an old farm road going through the middle of the preserve. The new trail follows the preserve’s perimeter.

Looking forward to Trails Day, Dr Coopersmith said, “Who doesn’t like the outdoors!”

A recent Eagle Scout project by Tom Diluoffo from Troop 270 added even more trail space. Mr Peterson noted that Tom’s project was centered on adding a new red trail loop in the northern section of the Brunot Preserve extending out to Plumtrees Road and connecting to the new yellow perimeter trail.

Brunot Preserve

The property totals approximately 75 acres of open space that is along the Newtown-Bethel town line, Plumtrees Road, and Taunton Hill Road. The initial donations by the Brunot Family in 1970 and 1976 to the NFA and additional donations by the Justis, Southworth, Moore, and Whitton families make up the Brunot Preserve as it is today. The property includes wetlands, woodlands, and three gorgeous hidden meadows along the Bethel town line.

The ecological diversity at the Brunot Preserve is also benefited by private woodlands that abut the property in both Bethel and Newtown. Each habitat present at the Brunot Preserve is invaluable to enhancing this wildlife sanctuary largely hidden from outsiders, Mr Peterson wrote.

In an e-mail this week he explained that the NFA was gifted most of the preserves it owns, “on the condition we protect them and make them available to visitors.” He added, “We want more people to spend time outside enjoying nature.

“The NFA owns nearly 1,000 acres, plus another 100 that are protected under conservation easements. Efforts to oversee these properties includes a Good Neighbor Program where neighbors or frequent visitors take a vested role in hel^ping look after our properties.”

Geocaching

Activities on the Brunot site include geocaching — an outdoor treasure hunting game where participants try to locate hidden containers using GPS-enabled devices and then share their experiences online. Based on the success the NFA has had with geocaches on this and other properties, the NFA asked local resident Rob Urfer, an avid geocasher, to add several new geocaches at the Brunot Preserve. Mr Urfer added eight new geocaches at the Brunot Preserve that form a Scrabble-based puzzle for visitors to solve — a tip of the cap to James Brunot who first developed and marketed the Scrabble game in Newtown. Geocachers have to find all of the “hidden treasures” to solve the puzzle.

Mr Peterson wrote, “Given the Brunot’s connection with the game of Scrabble, a like-themed puzzle-cache was thought to be real crafty.” Mr Urfer will share the geocache coordinates and will break the players into groups to participate.

 He will officially “activate” these geocaches on the website www.geocaching.com, sharing these coordinates with the world.

What Is Trails Day?

According to The Connecticut Forest & Park Association website, the association has served as the American Hiking Society’s Connecticut state coordinator for National Trails Day since 1993. Strong participation by organizations like the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC), Connecticut Library Consortium, Connecticut State Library, land trusts, town agencies, outdoors-oriented businesses, numerous volunteers, and “our great sponsors” is key to the success of this statewide celebration.

Mr Peterson added via e-mail that National Trails Day is a celebration of trails that evolved from the report of President Ronald Reagan’s President’s Commission on Americans Outdoors. In 1987, the report recommended that all Americans be able to go out their front doors and within 15 minutes, be on trails that wind through their cities or towns and bring them back without retracing steps

The Newtown Forest Association (NFA) is Connecticut’s oldest private land trust, and is supported entirely by donations and membership contributions. The NFA mission is to “independently preserve and protect the open space meadows, woodlands and watersheds in Newtown” with a donation of money or property.