Lonetown Marsh Sanctuary
- Ownership
- Town of Redding
- Acreage
- 11
- Entrance
- East side of Lonetown Road (Route 7), through opening in wall opposite south end of Redding Elementary School
- Parking
- Elementary School parking lot
- Trail
- Marsh Trail, 0.5 mile, white
- Trail App
- Lonetown Marsh Sanctuary
Background: Lonetown Marsh may well be Redding's premiere open space not the largest for sure, nor necessarily the "best"; but the first acquired (in 1968) with public funds, and possibly the most visible. Once known as Murphy's Swamp, the land and waters are preserved as a wildlife sanctuary and often used as a natural science laboratory and outdoor classroom.
Key Features: The trail skirts the south end of the marsh and presently brings the visitor to a low observation platform with views of open water, sedge, and button bush communities. Beyond the platform, the trail enters an oak-beech forest and gradually ascends Mohawk Hill, following an old stone wall to its junction with an unimproved right-of-way off Deacon Abbott Lane South. The trail currently dead-ends at this point.
Note: A slow, quiet approach to the observation platform may reward the observer with a glimpse of one or more of the marsh's seasonal visitors-mallards, wood ducks, herons, kingfishers, hawks. ❧
