Carrington-Lowell Preserve

The first piece of property given to the Bethany Land Trust, the Ida Carrington Lowell Preserve is a 27-acre tract of beautiful woodlands off Cedar Road on the west side of Bethany. The Bethany Conservation Trust (later renamed the Bethany Land Trust) was created in 1968 to receive this property from Marion Jenkins, the daughter of Ida May Carrington and William Lowell.

Abram Carrington, Marion’s grandfather, had purchased the land in 1867 as a cow pasture from Jay Andrew, and the so-called “Jay” land was given to Marion and her husband, Tom Jenkins, in 1943 as a weekend and summer retreat. The couple, who both held doctorates in psychology, eventually built a cabin, barn and root cellar on the property, where they spent weekends writing and wandering through the woods.

The property slopes down toward Hopp Brook and Regional Water Authority (RWA) land on the western side of town. There is about a mile of wide hiking trails going around most of the perimeter and through the middle of the rectangular-shaped property. The property is surrounded on three sides by stone walls and features an abundance of large trees. Old Abram Carrington planted an apple orchard there, and Dr. Jenkins transplanted many nut trees and other specimens onto the property. Loss of some overstory to a 2018 tornado has given way to an emergence of an understory of several native species.

Trails:

The trails in the Ida Carrington Lowell Land are best for hiking and nature study. From the main entrance, the yellow trail (0.77 miles; moderate) traces around the perimeter of the Preserve and crosses two seasonal streambeds on the western side. Two trails (0.24 miles; moderate) course through the center of the property with the red trail connecting near the spot where the Jenkins’ cottage once stood on the eastern side of the Preserve.