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. ❧