Johnston Preserve

The Town of Lyme’s 250-acre Johnston Preserve is part of the River to Ridgetop Preserves complex of six contiguous preserves spanning over 1500 acres extending from river to ridgetop and protecting a rare diversity of habitats, including streams, fields, wetlands and several woodland types. The Johnston Preserve itself is a mixed hardwood forest in the 100 year old range which includes oaks; red, white, black, chestnut and pin, as well as tulip poplar, black gum, white ash, red and sugar maple, beech, black and yellow birch and four hickory species. Understory trees include hornbeam, hop-hornbeam and American dogwood. Johnston Preserve has fascinating geologic features, from deep hollows to ridges with dramatic outcroppings and ledges. The white trail gently climbs to breathtaking seasonal overlooks. The yellow trail traverses North Woods Hill, the highest point in Lyme.

Henry Selden Johnston, a lawyer from New York, purchased this abandoned pastureland in various parcels between 1924 and 1932. In 2018, the 250-acre Johnston Preserve was bought from the Johnston family by the Town of Lyme with funding from the Town’s Open Space and Watershed Protection Program and The Nature Conservancy.

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