Hikes, Paddles, & Wellness
At the Westerly Land Trust, we love to guide outdoor experiences for our community.
Thursday Hikes/Paddles:
Hikes May & June 2025
Paddles Summer 2025
Each Thursday, we have either a guided hike (fall, winter, and spring) or a guided paddle (summer). Thursday hikes and paddles are FREE for all and begin at 10am, unless otherwise stated. For these events, you will visit various local conservation properties, including some of our Westerly Land Trust preserves. Walks are between 1 ½ to 3 hours and are open to all ages with the target group being agile seniors.
Event Hikes
Event hikes are generally centered around a theme and include seasonal refreshments. These hikes are FREE for WLT members and $10 for not-yet members. Some of the more elaborate hikes are $5 for WLT members and $15 for not-yet members.
We hope you will join us for these outdoor adventures! They are great opportunities to meet new people and spend quality time outside.
Wellness in the Woods
The benefits of nature for mental and physical health are innumerable. Here at the Westerly Land trust, we are grateful to play a role in connecting our community to the great outdoors for the holistic benefit of body, mind and soul. Wellness in the Woods is a series of outdoor events that was brought on by the pandemic and the increased interest in health and use of outdoor spaces. We are now entering our third year and our wellness programs are continuing to grow. All events are run in conjunction with highly trained and certified individuals/partners such as BarreCoast, Dr. Dierdre O’Connor, Westerly Track and Athletic Club, certified local yoga teachers, and certified mindful outdoor guides. We hope you will join us as we tap into the many benefits that nature has to offer.
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Acquiring new land is akin to making a new friend—there’s lots to learn about each other. Such is the case with the Champlin Farm Preserve— 90 acres of forest and farmland along the Pawcatuck River that WLT permanently protected in October 2024.
Since then, our Stewardship team, including many dedicated volunteers, has been exploring this land, getting acquainted, and learning how best to share it with our community. This included blazing a new trail system, and last week our Thursday Hiking Group was invited in to test these new trails with great success. 🥾
We are really proud of this conservation project and look forward to sharing this special place with you long into the future. 🌳
#hike #nature #landtrust #rhodeisland #westerlyri #westerly #stoningtonct #conservation #acquisition #community
Continuing last fall’s work at Haversham Preserve in partnership with @weekapaugfoundation the WLT Building Crew (a faction of CCC) added a staircase to improve access to and from the newly constructed boardwalk that allows walkers to safely and scenically pass between Haversham and Noyes Neck Roads. 🥾🪚
Today, WLT and WFC gathered together to celebrate this collaboration with a ribbon cutting, signifying the opening of the new trail segment. 🥳
Westerly is fortunate to have so many environmentally focused organizations. This is just one example of the power of partnerships! 💚🌱
#nature #westerlyri #newtrail #misquamicutri #weekapaug #trails #ritrails #conservation #environment #hike #partner #community
Our bloom peepers are peeping! 🌸
We’ve enlisted the help of a few dedicated volunteers, who are now keeping their eyes trained on rhododendron and mountain laurel buds at various WLT properties, anticipating their pop!🌱
Stay tuned! When our bloom peepers say “Go”, we’ll send out an email notification inviting you to a pop-up Awesome Blossom hike. We don’t know when or where just yet, but that’s part of the fun in working with Mother Nature! 🥾🌍
🐝This event will be free and open to everyone, so if you know someone who might like to get to know WLT better, please bring them along!
#flowers #bloom #hike #blossom #mountainlaurel #rhododendron #buds #nature #spring #summer #pollination #bees
At first we thought this was a bright blue beetle- but it turned out to be a moth, freshly emerged from its cocoon and just beginning to unfurl its wings! 🦋
#nature #spring #moth #summer #butterfly #cocoon #emerge #outside #insects #entomology #pollinators
Thanks to Mario’s North End Pizzaria for supporting the Westerly Land Trust’s conservation efforts with a Dine-To-Donate during Earth Week! 🍕🌳
#landtrust #community #dinetodonate #pizza #westerlyri #mariospizza
Homeschool students helped us harvest honey during our Pollinators & Planting class today!! 🍯🐝
#honey #bees #beekeepers #honeyharvest #honeybees #pollination #flowers #planting #conservation #nature #landtrust #westerlyri #rhodeisland
This past weekend current Girl Scouts visited Wahaneeta Preserve to learn about the history of the property. Did you know that Wahaneeta Preserve was previously an active Girl Scout camp?! 🏕️
We hiked trails that former Girl Scouts pioneered, waded in the pond in search of critters, and discovered what it was like to be a Girl Scout when the camp was open and operational. The Scouts got to meet Ellen and Sandra who camped at Wahaneeta in the 1940’s! Things are much different now—but thanks to our land trust community this land will be stewarded long into the future. 🥾🌲
Another fun fact: We didn’t even know the cabin was there when we acquired the property, because it was so overgrown. What a nice surprise it was to uncover it!
#landtrust #conservation #history #girlscouts #rhodeisland #forest #woods #camp #westerlyri #girlscoutsofamerica
After a long winter slumber, nature has awoken! What a beautiful time in Westerly—bird songs fill the air and trees display their finest spring green.
Does this time of year inspire you to get involved or take action in your community? If the longer days are motivating you to connect with nature and neighbors, read on to see what we have in store for May:
🌱5/7 at 5:30 pm- Historic Cemetery Hike at Grills Preserve
🌱5/10 at 7 am- Migratory Bird Day: Guided Bird Count at Barlow
🌱5/11 at 10 am- Volunteer Stewardship Day at Grills Preserve
🌱5/15 at 10 am- Thursday Hike at our new Champlin Farm Preseeve
🌱5/18 at 10 am- Outdoor Bootcamp with @barre_coast at Winnapaug Farm Preserve. WLT members, email [email protected] to receive a reduced registration price of $10.
🌱 5/22 at 10 am- Thursday Hike at Riverwood Preserve
🌱 5/31 at 10 am- Beehive Check- Caring for Your Colony at Barlow Nature Preserve
For more information and to register for each event follow the link in our bio to our Calendar of Events! We hope to see you there😊🌸
#landtrust #may #summer #spring #sunshine #garden #beekeeping #flowers #cutflowers #conserve #nature #hike #outside #cemetery