About the Iron Mountain Preserve
Iron Mountain Preserve’s quiet wooded landscape is a popular destination for hikers, its “lollipop loop” trail just under 3 miles roundtrip. The Preserve was created in l974 and 1981 by the donation of 257 acres by Mrs. Walter E. Irving. Mrs. Irving’s neighbors Brigitta Lieberson, Joseph Gitterman, and Vilma Kurzer followed her lead with additional gifts in 1983, 1984, 1987, and 1991.
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Iron Mountain Preserve forms a core part of Kent's GeerMountain Panorama, one of 23 Town Character Areas noted in Kent's Plan of Conservation and Development. In addition to providing a wonderful recreational resource, it is an important area for wildlife: Part of an 890-acre core forest block interlaced with several stream courses, the Preserve is home to bobcat, bear, coyotes, deer, owls, and many other native species
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Consistent with the mission of the Kent Land Trust, use of the Iron Mountain Preserve is limited to noncommercial, passive recreational activities. For more information about the property please contact the Kent Land Trust at (860) 488-9185 or info@kentlandtrust.org.
Acreage: 303
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Distance: 2.8 mile lollipop round trip loop
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Difficulty: Moderate
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Access to Iron Mountain Preserve is from a small parking lot near the junction of Flat Rock Road and Treasure Hill Roads in South Kent. Entrance to the trail is from the north of the parking area. The 2.8 mile long lollypop-shaped loop trail leads downhill to the west for some length, then turns south following the slope contour, to an abandoned apple orchard. It finally turns east, looping back to a junction that returns to the starting place over the same steep terrain. The small unnamed stream flowing downward first feeds Irving Pond, then Bull Mountain Brook, en route to the Housatonic River several miles away.