About Us

Community Preserves

The Darien Land Trust currently protects nearly 220 acres of open space in Darien. In all, 180 acres are owned by the Land Trust and 37 acres are protected by conservation easements. All these properties will remain as open space FOREVER.

Our protected lands are in locations throughout Darien. From historic meadows and tidal wetlands to leafy woodlands and inland wetlands, we are stewards of all Darien’s representative habitats. Most of these properties are small or need prior permission from our Executive Director to access them.

We are pleased to provide open access to the public from dawn to dusk on three of our larger properties: Olson Woods at Heather Lane, Brookside Road at Cherry Lawn Park (behind the Nature Center), and Dunlap Woods (attached to the Town of Darien’s Selleck’s Woods nature preserve) at Parklands Drive.

These properties and others are used by different Darien groups such as the Boy Scouts, the Nature Center, the Darien elementary schools, and the Bio Blitz for walks and nature study. We encourage residents to use our properties for painting, walking, birdin,g and the quiet enjoyment of nature.

We rely on visitors and neighbors to be our eyes and ears on the Land Trust properties for vandalism and trespassing but also to report bird and wildlife sightings. We want you to care for our properties as much as we do!

Contact our Executive Director, Elizabeth Harmon at 203.655.4148 or [email protected] for permission to enter the Darien Land Trust properties.

For emergencies contact DLT Co-President John O’Brien 203.253.5974.