Lyme and Old Lyme both offer innumerable opportunities for walking, hiking and simply enjoying their Open Space.

LYME/OLD LYME — Saturday, Sept. 25, is National Public Lands Day (NPLD) making it a perfect day to visit the Open Spaces of Lyme and Old Lyme.

Held annually on the fourth Saturday in September, NLPD was established in 1994 to celebrate the connection between people and green space in their community, and to encourage use of open space for education, recreation, and general health.

The seasonal change offers tremendous compensation. Fall’s crisper, cooler days are ideal for hiking and nature-watching, and our local forests present a truly spectacular color show for leaf-peeping.

To date, the Lyme Land Trust has 42 fee-owned parcels totaling 882-acres, and manages 70 private landowner conservation easements totaling 2,252 acres – protecting over 3,134 acres. The Trust hosts over 13 miles of trails in 651 acres of public access preserves in Lyme. A map of the preserves in Lyme can be found at this link.

Meanwhile, the Old Lyme Open Space Commission manages the town’s 600 acres of public lands. Their publication Take a Hike provides a fascinating natural history overview of open space properties.

Hiking maps of Old Lyme can be found at this link.

In addition to town-owned open space property, the Old Lyme Land Trust owns over 1,000 acres of scenic, historic and ecologically important land in Old Lyme. Many of these properties have well-maintained hiking trails – descriptions, directions and hiking maps can be found on their website.

Share your favorite outdoor activity Saturday on social media with the hashtag #NPLD.