1. SCHOENDORF PRESERVE AT FARM CREEK

Consisting of 4 properties accumulated over many years (the Langdon Property, the Schoendorf Preserve, the Hart Peninsula, and the Kulze Property) it totals 16 acres. Trails, open marsh vistas and native meadows. Farm Creek Preserve is used for our Educational Program. Open dawn to dusk. Read of its history and environmental importance here. Park on Sammis Street if you visit.

The Stone Barn at Schoendorf Preserve at Farm Creek was built in 1907 and currently houses educational exhibits and stewardship equipment.

2. WHITE BARN PRESERVE

This open space in the Cranbury section of Norwalk on Newtown Avenue was secured in 2008. The late Broadway actress/producer Lucille Lortel’s historic White Barn Theatre property was purchased by a developer and a 5.6 acre section was protected under conservation easements held by Norwalk Land Trust, the City of Norwalk, and CT Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection. If you wish to take a walk on the 5.6 acres, park in the entrance at 78 Cranbury Road.

3. THE MARGARET AND STEVE HOLTON BIRD SANCTUARY AT HOYT ISLAND

Three acres, at the mouth of Village Creek in South Norwalk, donated in 1979 by Countess Elinor Czapski for protection as a bird sanctuary/nature preserve. We have cleaned toxic contaminants from the island and in October, 2023, the island was replanted with more than 100 trees. It will be renamed “The Margaret and Steve Holton Bird Sanctuary at Hoyt Island”. The island is not open to the pubic in order to encourage nesting.

4. MARY PEATMAN PRESERVE

Our Mary Peatman Preserve is located at 16 Birchside Drive in Norwalk. Mary Peatman created an equestrian facility here in 1985, training her beloved Arabians until shortly before her death in 2017. Donated to the Norwalk Land Trust by her husband, John Fitzpatrick, the four-acre site now serves as a nature preserve. The riding arena has been turned into a meadow featuring numerous pollinator-friendly plants and shrubs. The paddocks have given rise to a successional forest community dominated by sweet (or black) birch. The upland forest of mature trees (oak, maple, hickory) is being stewarded by the Land Trust, which has removed invasive species and created walking paths for community recreation and education.