Trailmaster: Dave McCollum
Greenwich Audubon Center in Greenwich, CT at 10:00 AM on Thursday April 22.
Greenwich Audubon Center is a 285 acre sanctuary which opened its doors in 1943 as Audubon’s first nature education center in the country. Located on land donated by Eleanor Clovis Reese and H Hall Clovis the center includes over 7 miles of trails through a rich diversity of hardwood forest, meadows, lakes, streams and vernal ponds. Also on the property are an expansive Nature Education Center, an old apple orchard and original New England homestead buildings.
We plan to meet in the main parking lot at 10 AM and hike for about two hours over varied terrain including one steep climb and several sections of rocky trail. We rate this as a hike of moderate plus difficulty. The footing on our pre-hike was very good. The scenery is spectacular particularly at this time of year before the leaves are out.
The Center is located at 613 Riversville Road in Greenwich on the north side of the Merritt Parkway. Exit at Round Hill Road and use GPS to get you to the center. As always, guests and spouses are welcome but no dogs on the property please! There will be no lunch after this hike.
CONTACTS: Dave McCollum and Bob Plunkett
Hike recap. On an unseasonably cold and windy April morning, twelve DMAers and guests hiked 2.8 miles in under two hours over spectacular terrain at the 285 acre property which also serves as the education center for Greenwich Audubon.
Located on land donated by the Clovis family the center’s trails traverse meadows, hardwood forests, lakes and some awesome rocks and ravines. Despite the heavy downpour yesterday, the trails were largely dry or just damp. With the
leaves still not out, the varied topography of the center was in full view. What was not in view was wildlife! We saw a grand total of one robin and a chipmunk! All hikers were totally up to the steep (160 vertical feet) path from the lake area
to the parking lot. This is a property that should be on our regular hiking rotation.