GLCT Buys Key Acreage on Bluff Head

GLCT has purchased the last privately owned land on Totoket Mountain in North Guilford, near Bluff Head. GLCT bought the 12-acre parcel for $36,000 from Jeffrey Ahearn, of Portland, CT. Together with the 2021 acquisition of the 120-acre Bartlett Land Preserve, GLCT now owns about 620 acres between Route 77 and the North Branford town line, and another 205 acres on the east side of Route 77 to the Madison line. This vast area, known as Northwoods, also includes additional acreage protected under GLCT conservation easements.

The New England Trail (NET), a National Scenic Trail, crosses over the newest acquisition. The NET stretches from the Massachusetts border with New Hampshire to the Long Island Sound at Guilford’s coast. The routing of this significant recreational trail through Guilford was due to the large numbers of protected acres in the Bluff Head area and further south in town. Bluff Head is popular with Guilford residents and attracts hikers from throughout the region. It also includes vital wetlands that support significant amphibian populations and serve as headwater streams for the Coginchaug River, which flows into the Connecticut River, and the West River which passes through Guilford on its way to the Long Island Sound.

GLCT began buying land around Bluff Head in 1979, and this is the twentieth separate acquisition in the area. GLCT’s land, along with a smaller parcel owned by the Town of Guilford, supports the Northwoods trail network which includes a loop trail of more than five miles around the Bartlett Land Preserve.

GLCT needs your financial support for this acquisition, which came about more quickly than most. If you would like to help, please click here. Without the unwavering support of our members and our community, GLCT would not be in the position to act on such important opportunities. Thank you in advance.