HADLEY — A new loop trail overlooking the historic Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum property that will allow walkers to take in a view of the farm fields along the Connecticut River is being proposed by Kestrel Land Trust for its Dyer Conservation Area.
The trail work at the 35-acre site, which will supplement the existing Mount Warner Connector Trail, is being brought before the Conservation Commission Tuesday as a request for determination of applicability.
The commission meets at 6:30 p.m. at the Hadley Senior Center, and also offers a virtual format.
“Kestrel is proposing to build a quarter-mile loop trail that takes users off the Mount Warner Connector Trail, west to a viewpoint, and then back to the Mount Warner Connector Trail,” said Stu Watson, Kestrel’s stewardship manager.
Watson said the loop trail will provide users with a more thorough experience of Dyer, rather than just passing through to the Mount Warner Reservation, a Trustees of Reservation property. Dyer includes a 6-acre hayfield on the east side of River Drive, and 29 acres of upland forest farther to the east.
In addition to the view of the Hadley agricultural lands, Porter-Phelps Huntington Museum and its land and the Mount Holyoke Range State Park, Watson said the short walk on the trail, with a bench at the viewpoint, might be accomplished during a lunch break.
Plans also call for installation of a small kiosk on the existing trail closer to its entrance from River Drive.