Posted By auntie on October 12, 2014

4 miles; lyme, ct

the town of lyme, connecticut, has a wealth of open space, with not only 2 state forests, but 20 (yes, two-oh) preserves of varying sizes owned by the lyme land trust. there’s one really nice swath of land that consists of 5 contiguous properties with a a trail system throughout all five preserves, and that’s the hike i had planned to do today.

unfortunately, i was unable to complete the hike i had intended due to, um, reasons. but i did manage get in a few miles. this is a beautiful and diverse landscape and it was at the peak of color. i really really must go back.

colorful foliage

i don’t know what plant/shrub/tree this is, but the color was spectacular.

funnel spider web

there were tons of these funnel spider webs all along the trails where they passed through some fields. tons. funnel spiders (i am told by mr. google) are nocturnal, and they lie in wait at the bottom of their holes for unsuspecting prey to stumble into their webs, and then they dash out of the hole and grab the prey and drag them back into the hole. i don’t know about you, but i’m gonna have nightmares for a while. thanks a lot, mr. google.

eight mile river

the jewett preserve runs along the banks of the eight mile river in lyme.

the trail

despite the leaves, the trail is pretty easy to see. i didn’t encounter any big hills, either, but then i didn’t get to as much of the property as i would have liked.

wildlife

it was cool enough that this little guy barely moved when in came by. guess he’s getting the last of the sun before he heads for his den to nap the winter away.

i have added lyme preserves to the hikefinder.

Categories: Connecticut, Walks and Hikes
Tags: 2–5 miles, CT, Lyme CT