Hart Farm Preserve

Hart Farm Preserve – Hart Farm Preserve was purchased by the Cornwall Conservation Trust in 2003. It consists of a total of 96 acres with lovely southern vistas from the top of Cherry Hill with picnic tables.

Parking – Turn right at white sign 3/4 mile down Cherry Hill Road, look for the mailbox marked “64”. Park in the mowed area.

Level of Difficulty – Easy: a popular trail for cross-country skiing.
Trail Length – .75 miles

History – The Hart Farm Preserve on Cherry Hill Road is 96 acres of farm fields, forest, and wetlands situated on both sides of Cherry Hill Road. This land was a local dairy farm for over two hundred years.

On the north side of Cherry Hill Road is a 30-minute loop trail that follows a mowed path across two fields. Traditionally people walk around the edges of a field so as not to disturb crops. Here you can cut across the mowed diagonal or keep to the edges of the rectangular field. Either way, you will come to the same point.

Continue onto a wood road bordered by over 50 maple syrup trees. At the end of the stonewall, the trail proceeds onto a trail with grey-blue blazes and winds through ferns and light woods. Proceed quietly as you might see a bobcat, coyote, deer or pileated woodpecker. The trail turns up a moderately steep slope (maybe icy in winter), to the top of Cherry Hill where you will see a large rock cairn, and just over the crest, picnic tables and a swing.

The views are east towards Mohawk Mountain, south towards the Cobble and Dibble Hill and down the “Grand Canyon” of the Housatonic River and west to Tarradiddle. As you continue downhill towards the parking, enjoy the Western views deep into New York State on your right.