Merritt Family Forest
Managed by Groton Open Space Organization
76 acres2.3 mi of trail
Groton X-Town Trail
🐕 Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Outdoors in Noank
Beaches, parks & trails in Noank
About 14% of Noank is conserved land, roughly 201 acres. There are about 4.5 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Merritt Family Forest (2.3 mi) and Mortimer Wright Nature Preserve (1.4 mi).
Conserved land
14%
201 of 1,412 acres
Trails
4.5 mi
2 mi per sq mi · 4 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
11
108 conserved acres per 1,000 people
Bike routes
2.6 mi
0.5 mi lanes
Highest peak
226 ft
Fort Hill
What kind of outdoors town is Noank?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
This week on the trails
Best day for a walk: Monday
67°, sunny, 0% chance of rain.
Mon67° 44°0% rain
Tue59° 42°0% rain
Wed63° 55°0% rain
Thu69° 52°0% rain
Fri67° 50°2% rain
Sat64° 47°4% rain
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
★ What stands out · Things to do
26 places to go in Noank
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Noank
1 more beaches
Playgrounds in Noank
Dog parks in Noank
Boat launches in Noank
Peaks in Noank
Picnic areas in Noank
1 more picnic areas
Community gardens in Noank
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Merritt Family Forest, with 2.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Mortimer Wright Nature Preserve
Managed by Town of Groton
77 acres1.4 mi of trail
Groton X-Town Trail
🐕 Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Anderson Woodlands
Managed by Avalonia Land Conservancy Inc
11 acres
🐕 Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 11 parks & preserves
🌲
Anderson Woodlands11 acres · Avalonia Land Conservancy Inc
🌳
Crosswinds4 acres · Town of Groton
🌳
Beebe Cove Vista1 acres · Groton Open Space Association Inc
History along the way
History →3 historic sites to visit
Plus 5 cemeteries, often the oldest places in town.
Trails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Unpaved · 3.4 mi
Groton X-Town Trail1.7 mi
Who protects it
201 conserved acres
Who manages Noank’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State conservation75 ac
Town or city33 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits10 ac
Not recorded186 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 114 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 75 acForest Stewardship Easement · 75 acPrivate Conservation · 21 acLocal Park · 19 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 8 of 15 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected places
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 115 | Unknown |
| Noank Realty Property Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 75 | Unknown |
| Esker Point Beach Local Park | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| Avalonia Land Conservancy, Inc. 1 Private Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 10 | Closed |
| Town of Groton 2 Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 9 | Open |
| Spicer Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Tanglewood Play Area Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Noank Play Area Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Biking & sports
2.6 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.5 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
0.0 mi
off-road bike paths
2.1 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
8Beach volleyball
4Basketball
1Soccer
1Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
Next door
Noank and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved | Parks |
|---|---|---|
| Noank | 14.2% | 11 |
| Poquonock Bridge | 41.3% | 4 |
| Groton | 17.2% | 71 |
| Stonington | 14.1% | 58 |
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Noank neighbors.
Weigh in
Is Merritt Family Forest the best walk in Noank?
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Share a tip
Trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, PAD-US. Measured against the Census town boundary. Forecast: National Weather Service.
How we measure
"Trails" are OpenStreetMap paths, bridleways, public tracks and unpaved footways, plus footways inside a park or preserve or on a named trail route. Sidewalks are left out. Areas are counted on a 20-meter grid, so overlapping parcels count once. "Conserved" includes conservation easements, which protect land from development but are usually private property. Trailheads are the nearest marked trailhead, public parking lot or information board within about 150 meters of a preserve. Dog rules come from OpenStreetMap when someone has tagged them; otherwise we show what’s typical for the land manager, or say the rules aren’t recorded.