Maltby Lakes is a peaceful home to deer, wild birds, and many other creatures. Designed by Caleb Maltby in the 1860's, this beautiful area has almost 5 miles of trails.
You do not need to drive thru the vehicle entry gate.
No entry permit is required to search GZ.
The Mark Schaefer Trail encircles most of the land surrounding the Maltby Lakes and provides access to all other trails. It climbs the ridge west of Maltby Lake #3. The power line clearing provides an excellent view of the New Haven skyline and is abundant with mountain laurel, which blooms in mid-June. The Spruce Trail, a shortcut on the western side of the Schaefer Trail, will bring you through a Norway spruce tree stand, avoiding the power lines. There are several short trails, each with their own unique features. The Evergreen Trail connects Lakes 1 and 2. It circles back to the Mark Schaefer Trail in a shady grove of white pine and spruce trees planted after the 1938 hurricane. The Mil Deprey Trail passes interesting ledge outcrops of phyllite. Phyllite is a metamorphic rock intermediate between slate and schist. All three rocks are formed by compressing lake bottom mud under thousands of feet of other sediments. Slate has clearly visible layering and schist has crystals visible to the naked eye. Phyllite has neither characteristic, but its resistance to erosion is one reason why the land around the Maltby Lakes is so hilly. The Tulip Tree Trail is a short but rugged loop, named for the tall, straight trees common along some of the best soils in the area. The 1904 Trail is named for the year in which the oldest white pine trees along the west sides of the path were planted by students of the far west.
👣Total Trails Length: Approx. 4.87 miles.
💜Purple (Spruce Trail): 0.14 miles.
Easy Hike
🤍White (Mark Schaefer Trail): 2.91 miles.
Easy to Moderate Hike
🧡Orange (Tulip Tree Trail): 0.39 miles.
Easy to Moderate Hike
💛Yellow (Mil Deprey Trail): 0.49 miles.
Easy to Moderate Hike
❤Red (Evergreen Trail): 0.07 miles.
Easy Hike
💙Blue (Fishing Spur Trails): 0.42 miles.
Easy Hike
💚Green (1904 Trail): 0.13 miles.
Easy Hike
🧭Unblazed Trails: 0.32 miles.
Easy to Moderate Hike
This site is for passive use only. No mechanized vehicles. Hiking and bicycling only. Bicycling is permitted from April 15th to December 31st. Bikers can ride on designated trails only and must yield to all hikers. State fishing license required for shore fishing. Permit required for trail access. Wading and swimming are prohibited. Dogs are not permitted. No camping, closes at sunset.
🌏🌎🌍Follow these steps if you found or saw a trackable in a geocache or in someone else's possession:
On Geocaching.com enter the tracking code in the trackable search or select a trackable from your inventory.
On the right of the trackable details page select Add a Log Entry.
Select from the available log types:
Retrieve, pick up a trackable from the geocache.
Discover It, say you saw the trackable.
Grab it, from another cache or another geocacher.
Write note to the trackable’s owner.
Write your log and (optionally) upload a photo.
✨️Follow these steps to drop a trackable in a geocache or log a visit to a geocache:
From a cache page, select Log geocache.
Below the text box, select an action for each trackable from your inventory:
Drop, leave the trackable in a geocache.
Visit, take a trackable to a cache but keep it with you when you leave.
🌍🌎🌏😀👍Happy trails to you!