Hidden Valley Preserve, Just a Step Outside of Putnam

This week’s adventure—the Hidden Valley Preserve in New Fairfield, CT—falls into the category of good things that come in small packages.

At only 14 acres, Hidden Valley is a nice, easy walk. It is small enough so that even the most directionallychallenged person would have a hard time getting lost. Roads outline the property on the north and south, an elementary school is to the east, and a high school and playground are west of the preserve. There are access trails to each of the schools and the playground.

This preserve is only about 4 miles outside Putnam County. To get there, head north on Route 22 from 684. At the light, make a right to go east on Milltown Road for 4.2 miles to the end. Make a left on Route 39 (Ball Pond Road) and go .5 miles. Make a right onto Gillotti Road and go 1.4 miles. The preserve entrance will be on your left, just after the dip in the road with the paved pull-off and chain-link fence on the left side. The parking area has two entrances, and has enough room for maybe 15 cars.

Hidden Valley is great for children. Discovering one feature after another— a large educational kiosk, a picnic pavilion, a story circle, an elevated observation deck, wood and gravel stairs, a short boardwalk, a very long boardwalk, another small pond—and, finally, the “ultimate” park (see below) made this an exciting walk for the children. The adults were pretty excited, too.

We started at the informational kiosk just inside the woods from the parking area. The kiosk chronicled the history of the preserve, as well as providing some guidance on identifying different trees and plants. Going around the left side of the kiosk, we took the trail headed downhill that led us to a story circle—a series of wooden benches built in a circular formation with a fire pit in the center. Then we headed to the nearby elevated observation deck that looked out onto a shallow, manmade pond with a small island in it.

We headed farther away from the main road and into the woods. As our trail turned left to follow the water’s edge, a set of wood and gravel stairs led to the right and uphill. Not wanting to let a cool trail feature go unused, the kids ran up and down the stairs to test them out.

Done with the stairs, we got back on the trail that leads around the pond. A small boardwalk and a dirt path take along the water’s edge. A solitary bullfrog sat on a rock in the water. None of our efforts could coax him to move, other than a one-eyed blink.

Some widely-spaced log steps zigzagged up a small hill before we came upon a trail intersection. If you head straight uphill, the path takes you to the high school and the New Fairfield Community Park, which my kids referred to as “the ultimate park,” because of its large wooden climbing structure.

Turning right at the intersection, the trail traversed the hill a short distance, then turned right and headed downhill. The path cut through a stone wall and over a wet area. A little farther down hill and a turn to the right at a deep streambed brought us to a very long, straight boardwalk that crossed a slow-moving stream and swampy area with lots of moss-covered boulders.

Shortly after the boardwalk, we hit another intersection. Going straight up the hill takes you toward the elementary school and some private homes. As we made the right-hand turn, tall grasses and bushes surrounded the gravel-paved path. Watch out for the sticker bushes. We passed a second small pond will be on the right. The path continues straight until it passes a picnic pavilion and meets up with the kiosk at the starting point.

This time of year, the fallen leaves obscured the trails a little. The loop we walked took us only about 30 minutes. We didn’t bring lunch, but if you go I would suggest packing a lunch to enjoy at the picnic pavilion. After our loop, we gave the kids a half hour at New Fairfield Community Park before heading home. Hidden Valley Preserve and the Community Park are a great way to spend 2-1/2 hours outdoors with your family.

Steven Mattson has been a resident of Brewster for over 10 years. He is on the board of the Putnam County Land Trust, and is currently writing a book about family-oriented things to do in and around Putnam County. He can be reached at stvnmattson@ yahoo.com.