Harpswell Heritage Land Trust Participates in National Trails Day
HARPSWELL—Saturday, June 7th, is National Trails Day. The Harpswell Heritage Land Trust (www.hhltmaine.org) and the other area land trusts are sponsoring events to celebrate the day and encourage the public to get out of the house and into the beauty of nature. HHLT’s event will be two guided walks at its Long Reach Preserve. Forest ecologist Rob Bryan and biologist Tulle Frazer will be our guides.
The first walk at 7:30 a.m. will focus on bird watching. Bring your binoculars and bird book. The second walk, at 9:30 a.m. will focus on the ecology of the preserve. Meet at the trail head next to the Trufant-Summerton Ball Field. The Long Reach Trail is quite steep in parts, so be prepared with good hiking shoes, a bottle of water, and, possibly, a walking stick.
The Long Reach Preserve is 93 acres in size and contains a variety of habitats including upland forest, freshwater and coastal wetlands, and extensive frontage on the tidal waters of Long Reach. With the lands to the north and across the reach, the Preserve is part of Harpswell’s largest conserved area.
The Preserve is a classic example of Harpswell’s folded bedrock geology. Two steep bedrock ridges separated by peat-filled wetlands run north-south along the preserve. Long Reach itself is another flooded valley that is now tidal mudflats. During the 1800’s, most of the preserve was open pasture and active woodlot. The regenerated forest is now maturing and includes stands of large hemlock, white pine and red spruce, especially on the shallow ridge soils. Red pine grows in patches near the shore while red maple, red oak, paper birch, yellow birch and beech are found where the soil is deeper.
Other area land trusts will also be holding public events in connection with National Trails Day:
—the Brunswick Topsham Land Trust (www.btlt.org) will be having an Opening Day – Cathance River Walk on June 7th from 3-5 p.m.
—the Freeport Conservation Trust (www.freeportconservationtrust.org) will be opening their Cousins River Trail on Thursday, June 5th, at 4 p.m.
—the Lower Kennebec Regional Land Trust (www.lkrlt.org) will be sponsoring a Children in Nature Day—Fairy and Elf House Construction on June 7th from 10-11:30 a.m.