Trails- Talmadge Tract & Knowlton Preserve

The Daniel W. Talmadge Conservation Tract & Royal Knowlton Preserve Trail System

Mason Road, Willington

Trail Map (pdf)

The Willington-owned Daniel W. Talmadge Conservation Tract and Royal Knowlton Preserve, together with the UConn Forest, contain trails through some highly picturesque rolling terrain on 586 acres of conserved open space in the southeastern part of town. The 28-acre Talmadge Tract, which contains the Talmadge Spur Trail, and the 138-acre Royal Knowlton Preserve containing the Knowlton Spur Trail, were purchased in 2006 and 2011 respectively, by the Town of Willington with the help of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection’s Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition Grant Program. Joshua's Tract Conservation and Historic Trust and the Connecticut Forest and Park Association also provided some funding for the Knowlton Preserve purchase.

To access the properties and their trails, park in the gravel parking lot on the east side of Mason Road, located about 0.3 miles north of the road’s intersection with Route 44 and 0.8 miles south of its intersection with Daleville School Road. Both spur trails start on Mason Road, about a 100 feet north of the parking area. The Talmadge Spur Trail sign is on the west side of Mason Road and the Knowlton Spur Trail sign is on the east side.

The Talmadge Spur Trail (yellow and blue blazes) descends through open hardwood forest approximately 0.5 miles to a junction with the blue-blazed Nipmuck Trail. Going north (right), the Nipmuck passes through a mixed forest of large oaks and hemlocks and comes to the red-blue blazed UConn Loop Trail (on your left) in 0.2 miles. Here you can continue on the blue-blazed Nipmuck Trail to Mason Road (0.3 miles) or take the red-blue blazed UConn Loop Trail which returns to the Nipmuck Trail a short distance farther on. The 0.6-mile red-blue blazed UConn Loop Trail is highly recommended, as it passes through a forest of spectacularly large hemlock trees and along the edge of a picturesque ravine above the Fenton River - the same Fenton River that flows through the Town's Fenton-Ruby Park, 4 miles to the north.

After completing the UConn Loop Trail and returning to the Nipmuck Trail, taking a left and going north on the Nipmuck will bring you to Mason Road in 0.3 miles. Taking a right and going south on the Nipmuck will retrace your path to the Talmadge Spur Trail (keep a lookout for the Talmadge Spur Trail sign set back on your left) and then back to the trailhead on Mason Road where you started. You may notice many different features as you walk the trail in the opposite direction. If you continue north on the Nipmuck Trail to Mason Road you have two options to return to your starting point: (1) A 0.4-mile walk south on Mason Road will return you to your starting point at the Talmadge Spur trailhead. (2) Continue across Mason Road on the Nipmuck Trail where you will see a large green sign for the Royal Knowlton Preserve. In 0.2 miles the blue-white blazed Knowlton Spur Trail branches off to the south (right) through fairly level, open, hardwood forest, with an interesting glacial erratic, and in 0.5 miles reaches Mason Road directly across from the beginning of the Talmadge Spur Trail. Turn left (south) to return to the parking lot. This last circuit (not counting the 0.6 mile UConn Loop) is about 2.2 miles.