Pequotsepos Brook Preserve
Town: Stonington
Maintained Uses: walking, hiking
Difficulty: easy
Type: network of trails, connected to Denison Society Trails
Surface: packed earth, grass in meadows, stone and gravel and boardwalk bog bridges. Areas of the trail can be wet after heavy rains in spring.
Pets: permitted (dogs on leash)
Year Preserved: 1988
Acres: 44
Lat.: 41°22’05.1″N
Long.: 71°57’04.3″W
Trail Description
Great network of tails connecting from purple trail across from the Mystic Aquarium (near the West Marine parking lot) in the north, through Avalonia on yellow trails with several spurs, through Denison lands and connecting to the Nature Center’s Coogan Farm trails. The trails continue to Mistuxet Avenue thus creating a large and significant greenway along Pequotsepos Brook.
The length of this trail system with side spurs and connections off the main purple trail, provides great hiking, multiple points of access and places to park. See the map for locations and varied length options. For the Avalonia specific trail, there are well marked trail heads with trail blazes purple and yellow.
The trails are generally easy, with boardwalks and some rocky, uneven areas. There is a stairway at the marked trail head on Maritime Drive.
More Info
The trails pass through several habitats: meadows, upland hardwood forest, small fields reverting to cedar succession, dense thickets and most especially wetlands along the Pequotsepos Brook. Several ponds can be observed from the trails, and a well placed bench is a great place to view wildlife around the pond. The trail is named for the three massive old stone bridges, constructed in colonial time, which crossed the brook to provide stream crossings for carts or wagons. Several smaller stone bridge arches can be seen up the stream and best views are from yellow side spurs. There are stone walls and an old quarry. The trails and spurs can be confusing, but there are directional markers and the online map is most helpful. Updated signs are in progress. The trails are well used by Aquarium classes, Nature Center groups, Stone Ridge senior hikers and visitors to the area. It is a great area to hike to look for birds, amphibians in wetlands and other varied habitats.
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