Red Dirt Preserve
About
The North Amagansett area of East Hampton has benefited tremendously through the generosity and conservation-mindedness of many. This dedication has secured the conservation of over 600 acres of woodlands including 10 acres sold to the Trust by Drs. Robert Abel and Helen Carter in 2000 and now known as Red Dirt Preserve.
Red Dirt Preserve is an American Beech upland forest that also includes sugar maple, flowering dogwoods. Highbush blueberry is the dominant shrub. The preserve offers habitat for a wide variety of sensitive species including great horned owls, innumerable migrating birds, and Eastern box turtle.
Red Dirt Preserve is adjacent to the Trust's Silver Beech Preserve, donated to the Trust by cousins Margaret de Cuevas and Deborah Carmichael in 2003. The bio-diversity of these neighboring preserve lands -- along with hundreds of acres protected through the efforts of many others -- is important to retaining our areas community character and health.
The preserved land sits above the deepest part of the aquifer -- our sole source of drinking water -- and is part of the Town of East Hampton’s Water Recharge Overlay District.
The woodlands in the North Amagansett area of which Red Dirt Preserve is part — approximately 600 acres preserved — is critical for the bio-diversity of the forest, offering habitat for a wide variety of sensitive species including great horned owls, innumerable migrating birds, and Eastern box turtle. Equally important, the preserve land is part of the Town of East Hampton’s Water Recharge Overlay District, sitting above the deepest part of the aquifer, our sole source of drinking water. Through land conservation, we are all working together to improve the quality of our precious water resources.
This expanse of woodland would not be here if it weren’t for families like Drs. Robert Abel & Helen Carter — including the de Cuevas and Carmichael families, Evan Frankel, the Potter family, Mary and Peter Stone, Andy Sabin, William Lange, and Deborah Light — who believed that conservation outcomes were possible. We are truly grateful to them and the hundreds of other families who have trusted us to help them protect their family lands.
Visitor Information
The trails of Red Dirt and neighboring Silver Beech Preserve can be accessed from Stony Hill Road (north side) to the southeast of Laurel Hill Lane or from the South side of Red Dirt Road, between Thuzar and Wolf Way. In both of these locations you will find kiosks with information on the trails.
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Red Dirt Preserve
209 Red Dirt Rd, East Hampton, NY 11937
Things To Do
Hiking
Photography
Nature Study
Get Involved
Interested in honoring a loved one or commemorating a milestone? Support our Memorials at Preserves program and deepen your connection to this special place.
