Plymouth, Connecticut

 

2018 © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Click here for a trail map.

Leach Stanton Preserve

Carriage Shop Trail

If you only have time for a short visit, park at the Green and walk east along Main Street to the entrance of the new Carriage Shop Trail. This trail is about 600 feet and leads to the Carriage Shop Foundations. There are signs  featuring an 1874 map of Plymouth that shows the Carriage Shop, and information about the owners, Augustus Shelton and Byron Tuttle. The Carriage Shop Trail was built in June, 2012, by Boy Scout Troop 75, under the leadership of Zach Wegh, who supervised the work for his Eagle Scout project. 

Unfortunately, in January 2017 we had to cut down the white ash trees in this area because they were infested with Emerald Ash Borer, a nonnative invasive insect that is killing ash all across the United States. Because there were so  many trees to be cut down, this area is a little messy looking, but the trails are still visible and walkable. On the bright side, the many sugar maples in this area will benefit from the additional sunlight they will receive!

Please do not park on Main St. at the Carriage Shop trailhead as we do not have permission to park there. It's best to park at the Green and take the short walk to the entrance.

This 30-acre parcel is located on North Street. Most of it was donated by Dorothy Leach Stanton in 1967 in memory of her brother, Marshall Leach.  Plenty of free parking is available at the Plymouth Green at the intersection of Main Street (Route 6) and North Street.  The Green is in the "Plymouth Center National Register of Historic Places".  


A 1/4 –mile walk up North Street brings you to the entrance, marked by a large sign.  Visitors can hike a 1- mile looped nature trail that includes stations designating various trees, shrubs, and other points of interest.  These markers were constructed by the Terryville High School Ecology Club.  
The trail intersects with the Carriage Shop Trail at the site of the Shelton-Tuttle carriage factory, which dates to the mid-1800s.