Van Epps

The Van Epps Preserve was originally acquired in 2019 from Cathy and Dan Van Epps and expanded in 2023. Cathy and Dan created an enduring legacy in partnership with the Bethany Land Trust to preserve in perpetuity pristine forest adjacent to their home with Cathy’s Emerald Trail now named in her memory.

The Van Epps Preserve lies in a glacial cirque and is fairly flat on the southern side gradually rising until it abuts the ridge of the Naugatuck State Forest to the east and the north. Once an area of pastureland, first worked by the Lounsbury family in the 18th century, it is forested primarily with mature, second growth trees. Very large glacial erratics are present on the property.

The Preserve provides habitat for a number of mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds including coyotes, red bats, box turtles, owls, and hawks. Streams rising from the ridge flow into wetlands on the property. These wetlands feed Hockanum Brook in the Mendell’s Folly Preserve, which flows from there to the Naugatuck River.

This preserve serves as a protected bridge of land between the Naugatuck State Forest and the Bethany Land Trust’s Mendell’s Folly Complex. It connects hiking trails in the State Forest to multiple land trust preserves and allows movement of animals and plants between terrestrial and wetland areas.