AL’S TRAIL OFFERS SPECTACULAR TREK
Path runs 11 miles from Newtown’s Deep Brook Preserve through park, forest, scenic banks of Housatonic River and Lake Lillinonah
In this week’s Nature column, Peter Marteka describes a visit to Deep Brook Preserve in Newtown.
The Bottom Line: A journey along an energetic brook and through forest and fields filled with human and natural history.
Difficulty level: Easy to moderate. A gravel path runs along the southern portion of the brook. The trail along the northern portion of the brook is a bit more difficult over uneven and soggy terrain.
Total Mileage: Approximately two miles on trails that go out and back.
Directions: I-84 to exit 11; go to the end of the ramp and take a left on Wasserman Way. Follow that to the first traffic light and take a right on Trades Lane. Go to the abandoned building and take a right on Old Farm Road, then go to the end of the road past the Newtown Park and Bark. Visit www.alstrail.org/ for trail maps.
Parking: There is a large parking area at the end of Old Farm Road near a bridge across Deep Brook.
Pet friendly?: Dogs are allowed but must be on a leash at all times. During my visit, it seemed the exception rather than the rule.
What’s The Walk Like?
Every town should have an Al’s Trail.
The Newtown Trailway — marked with yellow diamonds with blue arrows — runs through the heart of Newtown and Sandy Hook. Also known as “Al’s Trail,” the path runs 11 miles from Deep Brook Preserve north through the spectacular Rocky Glen State Park to Upper Paugussett State Forest, where it loops along the scenic banks of the Housatonic River and Lake Lillinonah.
Some of the trail runs along roads in town, but much of it remains in the wilds of Newtown and Sandy Hook. The trail runs through state and town-owned land and Newtown Forest Association properties.
Al’s Trail was named after the late Al Goodrich, a member of the association, who helped to preserve land and blaze many of the paths in town.
Deep Brook Preserve is located at the southern terminus of the trail. The trail begins at an abandoned railroad track as the lively brook comes out from under an aqueduct. The trail snakes along the brook’s many rapids past the ruins of an old industrial building on top of a nearby hill.
The path for this two-mile section of Al’s Trail actually starts at an abandoned bridge over Deep Brook about a half-mile north of the railroad. Visitors can walk along the northern or southern portion of the waterway. There are signs describing the human and natural history of the area including an area known as the “tenth mile” where some of the oldest trees in town grow.
The trail also runs north along both sides of Deep Brook. The trail along the southern side passes the waterway at ground level with several side trails to the water’s edge. The path then winds away from the brook into the fields.
After crossing the bridge, the trail along the northern portion of the brook runs through a field. The brook can be seen far below as the path winds past its not so scenic neighbor — the town’s small wastewater treatment facility. For those who are ambitious and want to do a little bushwhacking, the trail continues along the brook for another half-mile before a stream crossing — too high this time of year to cross — and continues along Al’s Trail.
A description of the preserve notes Deep Brook is a “class A-1 trout stream, a living museum of native brook trout that have been breeding there for centuries.” The Pootatuck Watershed Association’s citizen river watch monitors the brook and urges visitors to report things like fish kills, foul odors or dumping along the waterway.