Limestone Rise Preserve(Knox)

Kalli and I visited the Limestone Rise Preserve in rural Knox today, a 61 acre property owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy.  To find the preserve, we followed Route 146 west out of Altamont for just over 5 and a half miles and then turned right onto gravel Nash Road(about .5 mile west of County Route 252).  Parking is available about .1 mile down the road, along the side of the road, across from a preserve sign.  Do not block a farm gate which leads to a large, open field on the right.

 We entered the woods here, following an obvious foot path, with orange markers guiding the way.

 The trail is pretty straight forward through a young woods and follows the edge of a small wetland filled with cattails before arriving at Route 146.  You must be careful in crossing the road here to access the southern part of the preserve.  The orange trail picks back up just east of here and re-enters the woods.

The trail leaves the road here and climbs uphill on the steepest part of the entire trail.

 Huge boulders carpeted in moss greet your arrival into these beautiful woods.

 The trail comes to a junction here at the beginning of a loop.

 This part of the trail is highlighted by multiple deep fissures, where limestone has weathered into narrow gullies.

Be sure to watch your footing if you leave the trail at all along this section.

 The trail soon bends east just before arriving at a large stone wall, and eventually loops back to the trail junction.

We recrossed Route 146 and followed the trail back to the car for a total of 1.3 easy miles.