Devil's Den Preserve

Nature Conservancy Preserve · Weston, Connecticut

The largest nature preserve in Fairfield county and the biggest Nature Conservancy holding in Connecticut - about 1,750 acres of hardwood forest, wetland, ledge and vernal pool, twenty minutes from the Merritt Parkway and an hour from Manhattan. There are roughly twenty miles of trail through it, the longest continuous woodland walking in this corner of the state, and it feels much further from New York than it is. The landscape is glacial: rock outcrops, a beaver pond at Godfrey Pond with the remains of a nineteenth century sawmill, and swamp boardwalks through wetland. It is a working conservation property rather than a park, which shows in the rules - no dogs at all, no bikes, no picnicking - and in the quality of the habitat. Parking is small, free and fills early on autumn weekends, and there is no legal overflow. The rules are stricter than a state park and all of them are real: no dogs at all, ever, no bikes, no picnicking and no swimming. It is managed as habitat rather than as recreation, and the quality of the woodland is the reason.

33 Pent Road, Weston, Weston, Connecticut, 06883, United States

Open daily year round from dawn to dusk, and FREE. Parking is free but very limited and the lot fills by mid-morning on autumn weekends, after which there is no legal overflow. NO DOGS ARE PERMITTED ANYWHERE, at any time. No bicycles, no horses, no picnicking, no swimming and no fires. Trails are not cleared in winter. Occasional closures for management work are posted at the gate.

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