Peconic Land Trust expanding trail network into Riverhead

Peconic Land Trust’s network of trails is spreading into Riverhead Town this year.

Last month, the 40-year-old nonprofit dedicated to protecting land received a $61,200 stewardship and resource management grant from the New York State Conservation Partnership Program to partially fund its first publicly open trail in the Town of Riverhead.

The forthcoming Granttham Preserve trail will begin at a parking lot to be built about a half-mile west of Briermere Farms on Sound Avenue. From this lot, the trail will stretch 1 mile north towards a meadowed area, at which point hikers will loop back around towards Sound Avenue.

Peconic Land Trust is a steward to approximately 30 miles of trails across four of the five East End towns. Its push into Riverhead coincides with its newly launched East End Trails Fund, which it can use to match grants and improve various projects.

“It’s a big fundraising push we’re doing to raise money to build trails and public access on the East End, and Riverhead is part of that,” Peconic Land Trust vice president Matt Swain said. “We just started it, but we actually already got some donations towards it … It’s kind of like a group fund, it’s not project-specific. So we’re going to be using those donations as they come in.”

Work on the Granttham trail began with an Eagle Scout project in the fall of 2021, when Noah Berry helped rough out the path as part of a project to benefit the community that would earn him his title. Mr. Swain said the trail is expected to open to the public this fall.

Peconic Land Trust was one of 45 land trusts across the state that received more than $3 million in grants last month. In a partnership with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Land Trust Alliance administered the CPP grants, which are funded through the state’s Environmental Protection Fund.

Mr. Swain said the new trail is expected to cost “somewhere in the range of $100,000 by the time we’re done.” The trust’s operating budget will cover the remaining costs.

The trust has another trail planned for Riverhead from Hubbard Avenue to Flanders Bay through Broad Cove, a former duck farm property in Aquebogue that the land trust purchased in January 2022. Mr. Swain said a private donation of $50,000 will go towards this trail.

Anyone interested in donating to or learning more about the Peconic Land Trust’s East End Trails Fund can visit peconiclandtrust.org.