Bafflin Sanctuary
218 Day Road, Pomfret Center, CT 06259
860-928-4948
Our sanctuaries are open daily year-round, dawn to dusk.
On this page:
Acreage
Trails
What’s Interesting
Birds
Other Wildlife
Facilities
More information
Size
700 acres
Trails
The trails form seven distinct loops and cover more than seven miles, around wetlands, along a brook, and through meadows and woods.
The Ravine Trail starts at the Center at Pomfret building, on Day Road, and descends through a meadow, at the edge of which White-eyed Vireos sing, and then doubles back through a hemlock ravine. Across Day Road from the Center, the Bog Trail circles a wetland where Virginia Rail and Wood Duck can be found., and intersects with the Airline State Park Trail, which runs from Portland to Thompson.
There is a trail head on Route 169 that leads to the mile-and-a-half Mashomoquet Meadows Trail; and another on Bosworth Road, near the southern end of the sanctuary, that leads to the 1.25-mile Ledge Trail.
What’s interesting
There is a lot to see at this 700-acre sanctuary: Extensive field and shrub areas with wetlands, hardwood forest and a hemlock ravine. Rolling terrain with broad vistas. and several ways to see it.
Sanctuary manager Andy Rzeznikiewicz manages the Bafflin Sanctuary for birds that require open land or young forest, most of which are rare or declining in the region. These include Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Eastern Towhee, and Chestnut-sided Warbler.
Ongoing habitat improvement and management projects include a cornfield, and seasonal grass and flower plots to attract migratory songbirds.
Sedge Wrens nested at the Bafflin Sanctuary in 2018. Photo by Mark Szantyr.
Birds
Bobolink nest in fields along Wright’s Crossing Road and behind the Center building. Willow Flycatcher and Orchard Oriole nest near the Center building as well, and some of the sanctuary’s breeding warblers include Worm-eating, Blue-winged, and Black-and-White as well as Ovenbird.
Across Day Road from the Center building, the Bog Trail circles a wetland where Virginia Rail and Wood Duck can be found; White-eyed Vireos nest in the shrubs.
Migrating thrushes, sparrows, and blackbirds can be found by the hundreds in fall, and Northern Harriers hunt over the field in winter.
Bafflin Sanctuary eBird Hotspot.
Other wildlife
Bobcat are common on the Bafflin Sanctuary. Also look for mink river otter, beaver, and coyote.
Facilities
The Center at Pomfret includes bathrooms, a gallery with frequent art exhibitions. and a small Nature Shop.
News and program information
For information about bird walks and other programs at the Center at Pomfret and the sanctuary, click here.
For news about the sanctuary and the Center at Pomfret, click here.
