Wellner Family Conservation Area

Well, Well, Wellner, What Do We Have Here?
Wellner Family Conservation Area, Avon Land Trust, Avon
November 2023

Imagine being me and wanting to get out into the woods and finding out that the Avon Land Trust recently opened a newly cleared set of trails just 15 minutes away? Super exciting, right?

Right.

The funny thing about the Wellner Family Conservation Area, tucked in Avon along the Canton and Simsbury borders behind a Staples (the office superstore) and a Petco on Route 44 and in between some high-priced neighborhoods – although you’d almost never know you’re anywhere near civilization – what was I saying? Oh yeah, the funny thing is that the Avon Land Trust has owned this patch of woods since 1997.

The land was donated back then by Dr. Murray Wellner and his wife, Susan. It’s a little weird reading the news of the donation with statements like, “We’re very happy the land will stay pristine and hopefully it will add a lot as a natural preserve for vegetation and wildlife for the area,” Susan Wellner said.

The press release also mentioned “passive recreation” and the way these types of donations work, it is spelled out pretty clearly what the donor wanted to allow. So yes, trails were part of the deal back in 1997, surely.

I’m not sure what exactly existed for trails back then, but the Avon Land Trust was jazzed about their acquisition enough to drag interested walkers into the woods with them:

Anyone interested in participating in the walk should gather at 2 p.m. in the west parking lot of Bickford’s Restaurant on West Avon Road.

Who remembers Bickford’s next to Petco instead of Puerto Vallarta? Not me.

Alright, let’s hike. Again, despite the commercial development along 44, this is really quite an interesting and pretty “conservation area.” There are massive oak and hemlocks here all along a ridge and some steep little peaks and valleys. It is a surprising series of loops to say the least.

And don’t be too turned off by the forest of Japanese knotweed at the trailhead. Someone from the Trust will have to be out there ever two or three weeks from April to October keeping it at bay, but I trust they will.

The trails here are very well maintained, and there’s a reason for that.

The Avon Land Trust board is small and mighty. We all work hard in our various roles – but we ALL agree that one of us does more than his share of heavy lifting (and we mean that literally and figuratively). Every time you walk on one of our trails and think, “wow, that hike was much easier today than last time;” or when you’re thrilled to see a footbridge over what, last month, was mud; or when, breathless, you near the top of a steep incline only to see a newly installed bench waiting for you; you can thank ALT board member and Trail Master, Scott Lewis.

Thank you, Trail Master Scott Lewis.

Most recently, Scott fixed up some of the ALT trails on the western slopes of Talcott Mountain; what were once very steep trails prone to drainage issues are now switchbacks and stabilizing staircases. This is very hard work, and apparently Scott did it on his own. (I’ve always wanted to get into trailwork, especially on the AT, but I have sort of pivoted and am happy in my volunteer capacity as a writer writing about others’ hard work. Yes, I’m lazy.)

I’m highlighting Scott Lewis’s work because it is also on display here at the Wellner Property. Until recently, “the trail had been neglected and hard to find or follow. But Scott fixed that in no time – and now it is a little slice of paradise,” per the ALT.

For most of their lengths, each trail here is like any other trail. But as I sidehilled some sections, I was struck that someone, at the time unbeknownst to me, had clearly put in some legit trailwork. I took pictures of a bunch of the evidence, never thinking I’d wind up learning the person’s identity.

The short one-third mile long blue-blazed Cathedral Valley Trail takes you into the heart of the property, in a valley as you’d assume. A yellow blazed loop, about three-quarters of a mile long, ascends to the ridges above each side of the valley. It also is sure to pass the town tri-point marker. (You see, I appreciate these things, ALT. Thanks for making it happen.)

I walked the yellow loop counter-clockwise which took me up one surprisingly steep ascension and pretty close to someone’s very large house.

I’d highly recommend going for it all here and continuing on the red lollipop “Nancy Nation” loop as well. It’s another 2/3 of a mile and it has a view! I have no idea why this trail is called the Nancy Nation Trail, but I like it.

The view here is mostly of… large houses with the Talcott Ridge a mile to the northeast. Hey, it’s a view. The loop here isn’t the most exciting, but as ever, it’s cool they’ve squeezed a trail in here at all. For that reason alone, you should walk it. Trail Master Scott Lewis isn’t out here working his butt off just for me and guided ALT walks.

Back past the view and back to the yellow trail, now completing my circuit around it. Here, it once again travels down a ridge (opposite of the ridge earlier) and it’s shockingly defined as a ridgeline. It struck me that this little property is like a model of the Talcott range, with ridgelines, a defined valley, views of Avon… it’s cool and I really liked it.

So next time you have to go to Petco and Staples and the liquor store and Stop & Shop and whatever else is over there, feel free to carve out 45 minutes or so to walk the Wellner Property.

It’s time Wellner spent.

Avon Land Trust
CTMQ’s Avon Land Trust Hikes