Timberland Preserve - Hiking the Timberlands - Guilford CT

Timberland Preserve – Guilford CT

Highlights:

Very well marked trails

Peaceful, tranquil setting

Varied terrain

Tree identification markers

Many loop trail options available (Make sure to bring trail map)

Iron Stream and Upper Guilford Lakes

Distance: 5.14 miles (loop trail) (shorter and longer loop trails also available)

Date of Hike: 2/23/2019

Weather: 37 degrees/partly cloudy

Elevation: Lowest 49 ft, Highest 249 ft

Duration: around 3 hours (with numerous stops for pictures)

Difficulty: Easy to Moderate. Mostly flat, a few rock scrambles and wetland crossings.

Parking: Twin Bridge Rd. Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/FmSxYq4adVP2. There are 2 additional Parking Lots available on State Highway 80(see trail map). The largest lot is near Maple Hill Rd on State Highway 80.

-

Parking Lot on Twin Bridges Road

-

Main Parking Lot on State Highway 80 Near Maple Hill Road

-

Alternate Parking Lot on State Highway 80

-

-

Trail Map: http://www.ci.guilford.ct.us/wp-content/uploads/TimberlandTrail-Map.pdf

Description:

We started from the parking lot on Twin Bridge Road and entered the Purple Trail. We took the first left across the stream to the White Trail. Left on the White trail to the Blue-Red trail. Right on the Blue-Red trail hugging the stream and Upper Guilford Lakes. The Blue-Red trails merges with the Yellow-Green trail which we took to the Blue-Red trail. Left on the Blue-Red trail until we hit the Blue-White trail. We followed the Blue-White trail all the way to State Hwy 80 Parking area(we wanted to see what this parking lot was like for future hikes and would probably park at this lot in the future as it was large. We retraced our steps back and took a left on the Purple X trail. We then took a left on the Purple trail and followed this shortly to the other Parking Lot on State Hwy 80(which is a smaller lot). We then retraced our steps and followed the Purple trail all the way back, close to our starting point.

We still had some energy left so we decided to do another loop. We crossed the stream and took a right uphill on the White Trail. Left on the Blue-Red to the Red trail. Left on the Blue-Red trail. Then Left on the White trail which we followed back to the Purple trail and our car back on Twin Bridges Rd. Overall a very enjoyable easy-moderate hike.

We would strongly recommend to bring the trail map as there are a lot of different options you can do for loops depending if you want a shorter or longer hike. Also a nice feature is that some of the trees had identification markers on them stating the kind of tree it was with fun facts about the tree type. 

-

First stream crossing from Purple Trail to White Trail

-

Wood walkways

-

Well marked trails

-

Educational tree identification markers

-

Iron Stream to Upper Guilford Lakes

-

Nice Terrain

-

Hiking-Camping Gear available at EXCURSIONS Journey To Health

Take an Excursion Today! See more Intriguing Hiking Trails and Destinations in CT