Description
Why You Should Visit
This preserve offers a 1.5-mile hike on a loop trail through varied terrain. After much of the area’s upland was reforested following agricultural use, the charcoal industry cleared nearly all the drier forest in the mid- to late-1800’s. Many of the remnant charcoal pits, where wood was slowly burned in mounds until it became charcoal, are still visible today. The charcoal-making process, which provided fuel for the iron industry, was eventually abandoned, and the forest returned. The upland oak woods are today estimated to be between 60 and 100 years old.
Why TNC Selected This Site
Mrs. Walter E. Irving donated 257 acres in 1974, with subsequent gifts totaling 26 acres from Brigitta Lieberson and Joseph Gitterman.
What TNC Has Done/Is Doing
In 1991, The Nature Conservancy received a gift of 20.3 acres of undisturbed upland forest at Iron Mountain. After this donation from Vilma Kurzer of Kent, the Iron Mountain Preserve now stands at more than 303 acres and links land protected by TNC and the Kent Land Trust.