Spiderweed Preserve

Why You Should Visit
This preserve offers a three-mile hike through dry oak woods, along massive rock outcrops, over a rock bluff with a view toward the south, down to a stream, past overgrown fields, and along an old farm lane. Although the vista overlooks Route 9, visitors can see distant mowed fields and may spot some turkey vultures, which can often been seen from this opening in the forest cover.

Location
Middletown

Hours
Dawn to dusk

Size
157 acres

Conditions
A trail provides easy access year-round, with a gradual incline leading to a lookout.

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

Directions
From Route 9:

• Take exit 10. Turn left (north) on Route 154 (Old Saybrook Road), and continue for 0.7 mile. 
• Turn right onto Dripps Road, which immediately bends to the right at a junction with the preserve’s entrance at an old grassy lane. 
• Park there, and follow the white blazes up the old road.

What to See: Plants
In the spring, look for bloodroot and trillium.  Jack-in-the-pulpit and geranium are common.

What to See: Animals
Watch for turkey vultures from the overlook; in spring, the ledges have vernal pools, which are essential habitat for woodland frogs and salamanders.

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site  
The preserve was created by a donation from Helen Lohman of Middletown in 1967; she named the area after the sad state in which she found her gardens every spring.

What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing
The chapter monitors this site on a regular basis.