Mountain Laurel Walk at Chenes Roches Preserve (Edited)

EDIT: The mountain laurel has decided to take a year off from blooming and there are very few in bloom here. This walk will no longer include the steep, ridge trail. Please, also, be advised that there is a lot of poison ivy growing here as well as barberry. Much of this has been trimmed back recently but is still present in great quantities. Long pants and repellent are highly recommended. We’ll still meet at 9:00.

Join us at Chenes Roches Preserve in Willington to witness our beautiful state flower in bloom. Dense thickets of mountain laurel, Kalmia latifolia, dot the landscape here and offer a dazzling display in June.

This heavily-forested preserve has trails through a varied terrain of hardwood forests, stands of pines and along a hemlock-shaded stream in a steep-sided valley. A round trip of 1.8 miles will take us across several small spring-fed streams with an altitude change of about 250 feet from the parking lot to the valley stream. On the western boundary of the preserve is a fault line ridge that drops steeply to the Willimantic River Valley. We will ascend the trails along this ridge to view the mountain laurel.

This will be a slow-paced hike as we stop to look at flora, listen to birds, and explore some of the interesting glacial erratics throughout the property.

The walk begins at 9:00 a.m. and will be cancelled in the event of rain. Bring water, bug spray, and appropriate hiking gear as needed.

We will post on Instagram and Facebook as well as this page if we decide to cancel the walk due to weather or other, unforeseeable circumstances.

If you have any questions or concerns, please call me, Michelle Poudrette, the Development and Communications Manager, at (860) 429-9023, or email me at michelle.poudrette@joshuastrust.org.

Registration is not required.

We look forward to seeing you in Willington.