Selden Creek Preserve

Why You Should Visit
Selden Creek Preserve has a scenic trail through a towering mixed forest leads to a scenic overlook that provides opportunities to glimpse the variety of birdlife on Selden Creek.

Location
Lyme

Hours
Dawn to dusk

Size
207 acres

Conditions
An extensive trail system leads through woods, with occasional steep slopes. A trail leads to a scenic overlook with a dramatic cliff—be careful near the edge. Map available at parking area.

How to Prepare for Your Visit
Please see our “Preserve Visitation Guidelines” page.

Directions
From I-95 north or south:

• Take exit 70 and follow Route 156 north to the Hamburg section of Lyme.
• About 4.7 miles on this road, take a left onto Old Hamburg Road after Reynolds Subaru.
• This turns into Joshuatown Road on your left almost immediately.
• Follow Joshuatown Road, and when you pass Mitchell Hill Road on your right, check your milage; there is a little parking area on left, 1.4 miles from Mitchell Hill Road.

What to See: Plants
The preserve’s mixed forest is immediately adjacent to a freshwater tidal marsh. 

What to See: Animals
A variety of birdlife can be seen in the marsh, including wintering bald eagles. In the spring, stop by the vernal pools near the trail; these are essential habitat for woodland frogs and salamanders.

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site  
One of the most biologically significant sites on the lower Connecticut River, this preserve takes the name of the creek that divides it from the 600-acre Selden Island State Park. Selden Creek preserve fronts one of the most important tidal wetlands of the lower Connecticut River and provides a buffer area for roosting bald eagles.

What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing
Selden Creek is a key site in the chapter's Tidelands of the Connecticut River program, which focuses on the region's tidal marshes.