2021-12-31, Banningwood Preserve, Lyme, CT

January 02, 2022

On 2021-12-31, I visited Banningwood Preserve in Lyme, CT. Banningwood Preserve is a Lyme Land Conservation Trust property. I made an interactive map of the preserve and some of the neighboring paths. I included location numbers on the interactive map. Here is a link to the interactive map: https://arcg.is/1nm10L . I'll put in a static screenshot of the interactive map.

1. I parked in a gravel parking area that could hold about five cars. To get to the parking area, you take a gravel track that starts out as also being a driveway for a private house. There is a Banningwood Preserve sign facing CT-82, which is also known as Town Street at this point.

1. Next to the parking area, there is a map kiosk with codes that take you to pages on the Lyme Land Conservation Trust website where there is more information on the preserve. The first code brings you to a page entitled, "Map and Self-Guided Trail Walk for All Ages": https://www.lymelandtrust.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Bann ingwood-InterTrailWEBa052820.pdf . The other code brings you to the page entitled, "Map and Self-Guided Trail, Walk Geology and Ecology.": https://www.lymelandtrust.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Bann ingwood-InterTrailGeoEcoWEB052120.pdf .

2. The geology webpage has a picture of this rock with this text: "The bedrock units that we see in Banningwood today were buried deep in the earth at the time of the collision of Avalonia and the North American plate, so they were hot and pliable (ductile). They folded as Avalonia rotated northward and began to impinge upon the existing bedrock that now underlies East Haddam."

3. I saw lots of stone walls in the Banningwood Preserve.

4. The geology webpage has this to say about this former quarry: "This is one of many small bedrock quarries in Banningwood. Notice that there are no drill holes here. Owing to the stresses associated with shear along the Honey Hill Fault zone, the bedrock here separates into small flat slabs that are easy to pry out and are great for building walls. Rock that did not meet the needs of the people doing the quarrying was cast aside in waste piles that lie near the quarries. The holes left by these small quarries fill with water during spring rains, creating vernal pools. This one retains water long enough to support egg laying and development of amphibians, such as wood frog and spotted salamander."

5. The "All Ages" webpage has this to say about this spot: "Welcome to Parker’s Perch! This ledge was Parker Lord’s favorite spot to sit and take in the view. In honor of Parker, we commissioned Hadlyme builder Block Design-Build to create a custom viewing platform unlike anything we’ve ever seen

before. On a clear day you can see the haze above the Connecticut River far to the west. This is the

highest elevation in the preserve, 230 feet above sea level. The dry growing conditions, thin soil and abundant sunshine are perfect for shrubby berry bushes including huckleberry and blueberry—excellent food sources for birds and wildlife."

6. There was a small dump about 100 feet north of the preserve.

6. At the edge of the dump was this car. My guess is that the car was built about 1950. I don't know the make or model.

7. Here, the Red Trail crossed the route taken by an old road that ran between two stone walls. Further east, the Yellow Trail shared the same route as the old road.

8. This was along the Yellow Trail. I think this is the invasive vine known as wintercreeper, or Fortune's spindle (Euonymus fortunei).

9. From the Yellow Trail, I followed a well-maintained track that went northerly, out of the preserve. I think the geology webpage was referring to cliffs like this one with this explanation: "This ridge is part of the Honey Hill fault zone, created 300 million years ago. It was formed when the microcontinent Avalonia was compressed between the American tectonic plate and the British Isles tectonic plate as they collided to form the supercontinent Pangea. In the fault zone, Avalonia wedged under the American plate and forced the bedrock up, to form the high rocky ledges in Banningwood. When Pangea broke up into the current five continents, Avalonia was pulled apart. Now, the Atlantic Ocean separates portions of Avalonia that were once joined–one part resides in Southeastern Connecticut and the other in the British Isles."

10. A representative section of the well-maintained set of thoroughfares to the north of the preserve. I would have guessed that they were horse paths that were part of a horse farm to the north of the preserve, but I saw no evidence of horse traffic.

11. A view of Roaring Brook.

12. Another view of Roaring Brook from a path to the north of the preserve.

13. A pile of discarded rocks, I think.

14. Roaring Brook. I think this is where the old road crossed the brook. My interactive map has a LIDAR layer that you can turn on and see the path of the old road.