Devil's Den Preserve
The Lucius Pond Ordway Devil's Den Preserve in Weston and Redding, Connecticut, encompassing 1,746 acres (7.07 km2), is the largest preserve in Fairfield County, Connecticut, and one of the larger preserves in the metropolitan New York area. The preserve's name derives from local lore: charcoal makers in the hilly, rocky area would say that a hoof-like mark made in a boulder was the footprint of the Devil.[1]
Devil's Den is the most frequently visited preserve (and largest contiguous preserve) run by the Connecticut chapter of the Nature Conservancy, with 40,000 visits per year. The main entrance is at the end of Pent Road in Weston. The park is open from dawn till dusk.
The New Canaan Nature Center runs programs and hikes in the woody park. The preserve has 20 miles (32 km) of trails, and maps are available at the Pent Road parking area.
The preserve is part of the watershed of the West Branch of the Saugatuck River and part of the extended 70-mile (110 km) "Saugatuck Valley Trails System".[2]
Flora and fauna in the preserve include more than 500 types of trees and wildflowers, the pink lady's slipper, cardinal flower, and Indian pipe, such animals as red fox, bobcat, coyote, and eastern copperhead snake, and more than 140 bird species, including wood duck, ruffed grouse, and pileated woodpecker.[2]
History
Humans have used the area for hunting as far back as 5,000 years ago, according to archaeological evidence found in the park. A sawmill was once located below Godfrey Pond in the preserve, a part of the area's history as a lumbering and charcoal-burning center, especially during the 19th century.[2]
From April 25 to April 27, 1777, residents of Redding and Weston were thought to have taken refuge in the Devil's Den to escape harassment by a column of British troops marching north from Long Island Sound to destroy a military supply depot in Danbury, Connecticut.[3]
The park was founded by Katharine Ordway, who bought 1,100 acres (4.5 km2) from the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company in 1966 and added more land to the original purchase from 1966 to 1968.[2]
The preserve was closed to the public from March 2020 until August 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.[4][5]
Notes
- ^ "100 Things to do for kids" supplement to the March 20, 2003 Darien Times and other Hersam Acorn newspapers, page 5 of the supplement (a booklet)
- ^ a b c d [1] Archived 2006-12-14 at the Wayback Machine Web page titled "Lucius Pond Ordway/Devil's Den Preserve" at the Website of the Nature Conservancy of Connecticut, accessed October 10, 2006
- ^ http://allthingsliberty.com/2013/07/taking-to-devils-den/ Prince, Cathryn, "Taking to Devil's Den," Journal of the American Revolution, 2013-07-11. Retrieved 2014-05-01.
- ^ Craft, Ted. "Devil's Den Reopens, Gently". Weston Today. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
- ^ "Lucius Pond Ordway/Devil's Den Preserve". The Nature Conservancy. September 2020. Archived from the original on 2019-03-01. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
External links
- Nature Conservancy page on Devil's Den Preserve
- Devil's Den Trail Map Archived 2014-08-22 at the Wayback Machine
- 41°14′11″N 73°23′46″W / 41.2365°N 73.3960°W / 41.2365; -73.3960
- v
- t
- e
- Above All
- Air Line
- Beaver Brook
- Becket Hill State Park Reserve
- Beckley Furnace Industrial Monument
- Bennett's Pond
- Bigelow Hollow
- Black Rock
- Bluff Point
- Bolton Notch
- Brainard Homestead
- Burr Pond
- Camp Columbia
- Campbell Falls
- Chatfield Hollow
- Collis P. Huntington
- Connecticut Valley Railroad
- Dart Island State Park
- Day Pond
- Dennis Hill
- Devil's Hopyard
- Dinosaur
- Eagle Landing
- Farm River
- Farmington Canal
- Fort Griswold Battlefield
- Fort Trumbull
- Gardner Lake
- Gay City
- George Dudley Seymour
- George Waldo
- Gillette Castle
- Haddam Island
- Haddam Meadows
- Haley Farm
- Hammonasset Beach
- Harkness Memorial
- Haystack Mountain
- Higganum Reservoir
- Hop River State Park Trail
- Hopemead
- Hopeville Pond
- Horse Guard
- Housatonic Meadows
- Humaston Brook
- Hurd
- Indian Well
- John A. Minetto
- Kent Falls
- Kettletown
- Killingly Pond
- Lake Waramaug
- Lamentation Mountain
- Larkin State Park Trail
- Lovers Leap
- Macedonia Brook
- Machimoodus
- Mansfield Hollow
- Mashamoquet Brook
- Mianus River
- Millers Pond
- Minnie Island
- Mohawk Mountain
- Mono Pond
- Moosup Valley State Park Trail
- Mooween
- Mount Bushnell
- Mount Riga
- Mount Tom
- Old Furnace
- Osbornedale
- Penwood
- Platt Hill
- Pomeroy
- Putnam Memorial
- Quaddick
- Quinebaug Lake
- Quinnipiac River
- River Highlands
- Rocky Glen
- Rocky Neck
- Ross Pond
- Salt Rock State Campground
- Satan's Kingdom State Recreation Area
- Scantic River
- Selden Neck
- Seth Low Pierrepont
- Sherwood Island
- Silver Sands
- Sleeping Giant
- Southford Falls
- Squantz Pond
- Stillwater Pond
- Stoddard Hill
- Stratton Brook
- Sunnybrook
- Sunrise
- Talcott Mountain
- Tri-Mountain
- Trout Brook Valley
- Wadsworth Falls
- West Rock Ridge
- Wharton Brook
- Whittemore Glen
- Windsor Locks Canal State Park Trail
- Windsor Meadows
- Wooster Mountain
- Algonquin
- American Legion
- Centennial Watershed
- Cockaponset
- Enders
- James L. Goodwin
- Housatonic
- Massacoe
- Mattatuck
- Meshomasic
- Mohawk
- Mohegan
- Nassahegon
- Natchaug
- Nathan Hale
- Naugatuck
- Nehantic
- Nepaug
- Nipmuck
- Nye-Holman
- Pachaug
- Paugnut
- Paugussett
- People's
- Pootatuck
- Quaddick
- Salmon River
- Shenipsit
- Topsmead
- Tunxis
- Wyantenock
- Aldo Leopold WMA
- Assekonk WMA
- Babcock Pond WMA
- Barber Pond WMA
- Barn Island WMA
- Bartlett Brook WMA
- Bear Hill WMA
- Belding WMA
- Bishops Swamp WMA
- Black Pond WMA
- Candlewood Hill WMA
- Cedar Swamp WMA
- Charles E. Wheeler WMA
- Cromwell Meadows WMA
- Durham Meadows WMA
- East River Marsh WMA
- East Swamp WMA
- Eightmile River WMA
- Franklin Swamp WMA
- Goshen WMA
- Great Harbor WMA
- Higganum Meadows WMA
- Housatonic River WMA
- King's Island Coop WMA
- Kollar WMA
- Larson Lot WMA
- Little River Fish and Wildlife Area
- Lord's Cove WMA
- Maromas Coop WMA
- Meadow Brook WMA
- Menunketesuck WMA
- Messerschmidt WMA
- Newgate WMA
- Nod Brook WMA
- Nott Island WMA
- Pease Brook WMA
- Plum Bank WMA
- Quinebaug River WMA
- Quinnipiac River Marsh WMA
- Ragged Rock WMA
- Raymond Brook Marsh WMA
- Robbins Swamp WMA
- Roger Tory Peterson Wildlife Area
- Roraback WMA
- Rose Hill WMA
- Ross Marsh WMA
- Salmon River Cove and Haddam Neck WMA
- Sessions Woods WMA
- Simsbury WMA
- Skiff Mountain Coop WMA
- James V. Spignesi WMA
- Stanley Works WMA
- Suffield WMA
- Talbot WMA
- Tankerhoosen WMA
- Wangunk Meadows WMA
- Wopowog WMA
- Zemko Pond WMA
- Aspetuck Reservoir
- Barkhamsted Reservoir
- Beaver Dam Lake
- Candlewood Lake
- Easton Reservoir
- Far Mill Reservoir
- Hemlock Reservoir
- Hop Brook Lake
- Lake Lillinonah
- Mansfield Hollow Lake
- Means Brook
- Saugatuck Reservoir
- Trap Falls Reservoir
- West Hartford Reservoir
- West Pequonnock Reservoir
- Lake Zoar
- Aspetuck Land Trust
- Aton Forest
- Audubon Center at Bent of the River
- Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens
- Bear Mountain
- Beckley Bog
- Branford Land Trust
- Case Mountain
- Cathedral Pines
- Connecticut Audubon Society Center at Fairfield
- Connecticut College Arboretum
- Devil's Den Preserve
- Earthplace
- Great Mountain Forest
- Higby Mountain
- Highstead Arboretum
- Joshua's Tract Conservation and Historic Trust
- McLean Game Refuge
- New Canaan Nature Center
- Peter's Rock
- Pine Mountain Reserve
- Saltonstall Mountain
- Stamford Museum & Nature Center
- Steep Rock Association
- Weantinoge Heritage Land Trust
- White Memorial Foundation
- Woodcock Nature Center
- Yale-Myers Forest
- American Legion State Forest Trails
- Aspetuck Valley Trail
- Blue-Blazed Trails
- Chatfield Trail
- Hancock Brook Trail
- Housatonic Range Trail
- Lillinonah Trail
- Mattabesett Trail
- Menunkatuck Trail
- Metacomet Trail
- Narragansett Trail
- Natchaug Trail
- Naugatuck Trail
- Nehantic Trail
- Nipmuck Trail
- Paugussett Trail
- Pequot Trail
- Quinnipiac Trail
- Regicides Trail
- Salmon River Trail
- Shenipsit Trail
- Tunxis Trail
- Westwoods Trails
- Whitestone Cliffs Trail
- Zoar Trail
Forest/Parks
- Bear Mountain Reservation
- Beardsley Park
- Burr Farm Protected Open Space
- East Rock Park
- Gurski Farm Protected Open Space
- Happy Landings Protected Open Space
- Lighthouse Point Park
- Lillinonah Woods
- Mill River Park
- Old Bridge Sanctuary
- Pleasure Beach
- Roosevelt Forest
- Salt Meadow Park
- Seaside Park
- Webb Mountain Discovery Zone
- Webb Mountain Park