ACREAGE: 45      DATE ACQUIRED: 2010

Purchased with a grant from the Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving

CLICK HERE to learn more about the Richard P. Garmany Preserve in this write-up by local historian Mark Williams.

Property Location

The Garmany Preserve is located in the GLT’s Old Messenger Road Corridor and the property is divided by Old Creamery Hill Road. Old Messenger Road is a discontinued woodland road in North Granby, as is Old Creamery Hill Road. Access to this preserve is via the GLT’s Katan-Ensor Preserve trailhead located at 61 Strong Road in West Granby.

Trailhead

The trailhead to the Garmany Preserve is located on the Katan-Ensor Preserve, at 61 Strong Road (located at the very end of Strong Road) in West Granby. Park in the lot on the hammerhead on Strong Road (you will see the Katan-Ensor Preserve sign) and walk up the dirt road to the trailhead kiosk.

Total Miles of Trails

2.17 miles of cleared trails traversing through three of the GLT's Old Messenger Road Preserves (Katan-Ensor, Schlicht Family and Garmany Preserves).

Highlights

The Garmany Preserve has natural and historical significance. Here, you will see evidence of a family – the Messengers - that settled on this mountain, known as Popatunuck Mountain,  at the time of the French and Indian War, and farmed this land for four generations before moving off of the mountain in the late 19th Century. Stone walls, the foundations of houses and barns, wells, and new growth forests all are evidence of the family's hard work and time spent here. In addition to the Messenger Family Homestead Foundations, you’ll also hear and see the beautiful Mountain Brook which runs next to Old Creamery Hill Road on the yellow trail.

Featured Trail

Starting from the Katan-Ensor Preserve kiosk, walk up the red trail and then proceed onto the yellow trail which starts on the Schlicht Family Preserve (you will see the property sign). Proceed on the yellow trail until it comes to an intersection, take the yellow trail to the left and proceed up to Scarlet Tanager Outlook on the Schlicht Preserve. Following your visit to the outlook, walk back on yellow trail for about 50 feet and then take a left onto the yellow trail and follow this trail (you’ll see some large glacial erratics) until you come to the intersection of the yellow and orange trails at the bottom of the hill. Take a left onto the yellow trail (you will see Garmany Preserve property sign – you are now on The Garmany Preserve). Follow the yellow trail, you will be walking parallel to Old Messenger Road and will eventually come to the Messenger Family Homestead area on your left (marked by sign on your left at intersection of yellow trail and Old Creamery Hill Road). Bear right on the yellow trail, proceeding down Old Creamery Hill Road. To get a great look at Mountain Brook and enjoy a quiet moment amongst a series of waterfalls, proceed past where the yellow trail goes to the right through the stonewall and then take a quick left to walk down to the brook (you will see yellow trail signs). From the Mountain Brook stop, proceed back up Old Creamery Hill Road for 30 feet and take a left onto the yellow trail. This section of the yellow trail will return you to the intersection of the yellow trail (where you took a left to go to Outlook). Continue back down yellow trail retracing your initial route to the Katan-Ensor Preserve kiosk.

Track Your Location Using Avenza Maps®

Be Adventurous Without Getting Lost

As you walk this trail, track your progress and location using Avenza Maps®, a free app to view maps, even while offline. The Granby Land Trust has several trail maps available for download, including this one. To track your hike on the Richard P. Garmany Preserve, download the “Katan-Ensor Preserve/GLT Old Messenger Road Preserves” map.