About a ten-minute drive from downtown Stonington, the Edgar Tennis Preserve is another beautiful shore area maintained by the Island Heritage Trust. Rachel and I hiked there on a sunny Sunday afternoon, doing both the loops that travel along the water (about 3 miles total of easy hiking, with a few rock scrambles along the way). Similar to the quarry hike, there are few parking spots available, perhaps 7 total. The views throughout the walks are stunning – ocean views, tidal bay views, and mossy forests dotted with ferns.
This hike wouldn’t have been a good one for the girls, as the footing was strewn with roots and rocks. The spongy forest floor made for cushioned walking, and also entertained Rachel as she watched the ground squish beneath my footfalls. We spotted few people along this trail, but among the dozen or so we did see, one was yapping loudly into her cell phone as her family marched along with hanging heads. The forests were mixed evergreen and birch, but we saw no living birch trees through the hike – all the birch was on the ground and looked as if some pest had destroyed them all from the inside out. We highly recommend this series of trails and will certainly visit again.
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