Trout Brook Valley State Park Reserve facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Trout Brook Valley State Park Reserve
Trout Brook Valley Preserve and Connecticut State Reserve, Ordway (Red-Blazed) Trail southern trailhead (north of Bradley Hill Road) entrance.
Trout Brook Valley State Park Reserve Location in Connecticut
Location	Easton, Connecticut, United States
Area	300 acres (120 ha)
Designation	Connecticut state park
Established	1999
Administrator	Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Website	Trout Brook Valley State Park Reserve

The Trout Brook Valley State Park Reserve is a special place in Easton, Connecticut. It's a 300-acre piece of land owned by the state of Connecticut. This reserve is part of a much bigger area called the Trout Brook Valley Preserve. The entire preserve covers over 1,000 acres! It stretches across the towns of Easton and Weston, Connecticut. You can find it right next to the beautiful Saugatuck Reservoir.

The Aspetuck Land Trust helps take care of this amazing natural area. If you visit the state park part of the preserve, you can enjoy fun activities like hiking on trails and even hunting in certain areas. It's a great spot to explore nature!

How Trout Brook Valley Was Saved

The story of how Trout Brook Valley became a protected area is quite interesting.

Plans for Development

In 1994, a company called Bridgeport Hydraulic Company (BHC) owned a large piece of undeveloped land. This land was 730 acres and bordered the Saugatuck Reservoir. By 1997, BHC's parent company, Aquarion, decided to sell this land. They made a deal with a developer. The plan was to build 103 fancy houses and a golf course on the property.

Community Steps Up

Many people in the community did not want to see this beautiful natural area developed. In 1998, two groups, the Aspetuck Land Trust and the Coalition to Preserve Trout Brook Valley, started a big effort to save the land. They wanted to protect it from being built on. Many other groups and people joined them. These included:

• Connecticut Fund for the Environment
• Citizens for Easton
• The Easton garden club
• Hiking and mountain biking groups
• Bird watching fans
• Nature lovers

Even famous actor and helper Paul Newman and his family joined the effort to save Trout Brook Valley!

Protecting the Land

Thanks to all these efforts, the land was saved! In September 1999, 685 acres of the Trout Brook Valley land were bought from BHC/Aquarion. The money came from different places:

• The Aspetuck Land Trust and the Nature Conservancy raised $5.3 million.
• The state of Connecticut added $6 million.

Also, 45 acres of land in nearby Weston were bought by the local government. This teamwork helped make sure that Trout Brook Valley would remain a natural space for everyone to enjoy.