Pigeon Swamp Preserve Hiking Trails

Pigeon Swamp is a-135 acre preserve in Lebanon, Connecticut, that was given to Joshua’s Trust by Dr. Mervyn H. Little and his wife, Dr. Olga A. G. Little. The Littles were medical pioneers in Eastern Connecticut. Their concern for the protection of the land and their friendship with two long-time Trust members, Dr. Sam Dodd and Dr. Frank Bird, led to their generous gift of this preserve in 1996.

The name Pigeon Swamp refers to the passenger pigeons whose flocks once filled the skies before they became extinct. They came to the 40-acre marsh and feasted on beech nuts, abundantly provided by the adjacent thick stands of American beech trees.

The property hosts second-growth deciduous forest, old pasture and shallow emergent marsh. Three miles of level trails take the visitor through a variety of habitats (marsh, swamp, forest, and old pasture). Of historic interest are the remains of an old house foundation, mill, dam and sluiceway on Pigeon Swamp Brook. A grist mill was in operation there as early as 1777.

The preserve is being managed primarily as wildlife habitat, and ongoing restoration of old pastures may be observed. In Southern New England, early succession habitat is one of the most uncommon habitats. Here you will observe pioneering species that support wildlife, like fruit-bearing red cedar and black cherry trees, groves of staghorn sumac and patches of speckled alders.