This single loop trail starts high up on a rocky ledge, then descends steeply through the woods to the pond where it follows the water’s edge before climbing back to the heights. To complete the loop back to the trailhead/parking lot, follow Kreis Lane south - this is a quiet road, but please use caution and respect private property.
Waterfowl value the shallow pond, which is home to herons, egrets, geese and ducks. The mixed hardwood forest sloping down to the river consists of: beech, red and white oak, sugar maple, red cedar, white spruce and hemlock. New growth in this forest includes young maple and oak. Mountain Laurel grows throughout the understory.
Tiley Pratt Pond is formed by a dam built in 1845 to serve a small factory making ivory products. Later, it was home to the Tiley, Pratt Co., which made bicycle spokes, button hooks and, for a brief period, produced a limited number of automobiles under the Tiley nameplate. The preserve was acquired in 2000 from the son of the noted sculptor Henry Kreis. Henry Kreis maintained a home and studio north of the preserve next to the pond. Those of a certain age will also remember humorist and journalist Charles Kuralt lived alongside Tiley Pratt pond.
Located at the north end of Tiley Pratt Pond, a fishway was installed in 2014 by The Nature Conservancy with support from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environment and the Essex Land Trust. Intended to reestablish spawning habitat for native anadromous alewife, and blue-backed herring, and catadromous species such as the American eel, the fishway opens more than two miles of new habitat for migrating fish. The design consists of an entryway to calm and slow the dam overflow with a series of ascending pools or a ladder where the pools are created by small rock dams placed across the water flow. The migrating fish are able to move up from pool to pool against the flow, until they reach the top. The fishway can best be seen from Dennison Road where the Falls River crosses under the road.
Our preserve rules and dog policy can be found on the Essex Land Trust website.
From West Avenue in Essex Village, head north on Sunset Avenue. Just past the junction with Grandview Terrace, adjacent to 38 Laural Road, turn left onto the unmarked Kreis Lane, which is indicated by a green and grey Essex Land Trust sign. At the right angle turn on Kreis Lane where there is a one car parking spot adjacent to an Essex Land Trust kiosk.
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