Quarry Hill Preserve and Thurber’s Arrowhead

Quarry Hill Preserve and Thurber’s Arrowhead – This preserve consists of a total of 32 acres of forest adjacent to Cathedral Pines. At the top of the 17-acre Quarry Hill preserve is a historic Cornwall quarry. The 15 acres adjacent to Quarry Hill and Cathedral Pines will be known as Thurber’s Arrowhead in honor of the prior owner, James Thurber, and the shape of that property. Conservation of the Quarry Hill ridgeline will add important protected habitat to the 40-acre Cathedral Pines, will protect water quality by keeping trees along the ridge that drains into the town water supply and Furnace Brook and will ensure that future generations enjoy the scenic ridgeline.

About the prior owner: James Thurber was a cartoonist and humorist who wrote for The New Yorker and published many books, including My Life and Hard Times and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. He called his property in Cornwall “the Great Good Place.”

The purchase was made possible thanks to an open space grant from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, a Federal Highlands grant, and the Connecticut Land Conservation Council’s Transaction Assistance Grant Program.

Parking – Park at the Cathedral Pines Preserve parking lot located on Essex Hill Road in Cornwall, approximately .2 miles from the intersection of Valley Road and Essex Hill Road. On the left you will find a large boulder and a small parking lot.

Level of Difficulty – Moderate.