North Stonington offers two distinct starting points for planning a trip: the historic village and trails in preserves. The village of North Stonington, formerly known as “Milltown,” is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; a self-guided walking tour of the historic village is also available. There are also trail resources ranging from an official map covering the entire town to individual preserves. This lets you explore local history as a topic in its own right while also considering what kind of trail information suits your interests.

Historic Village and Local History

The National Register listing is for the village; the walking tour also covers the historic village. The history of its name adds context: North Stonington was formerly known as “Milltown.” For a visit focused on local history, there is a named historic designation, a former name for the town, and a self-guided way to explore. These details focus on the village itself.

The Yannatos Preserve offers another historical perspective. A dam-powered mill once stood there. Along with the former name “Milltown,” these are two distinct historical points of reference: a former name for the village and a former mill at a specific location. If you are interested in local history, you can consider the village’s history and the preserve’s former use as separate topics. The mill offers another specific historical point of reference in North Stonington, distinct from the walking tour in the village.

Trails at Different Scales

For trail planning, the official North Stonington Bike Map is a town-wide resource: it includes all the town’s trails. This provides a broad overview if you want to look at the trails as a whole first. Information about individual preserves is more specific and connects trail features with a named destination. This lets you distinguish between an overview of the town and specific preserve offerings.

At Benedict Benson Preserve, a hike is rated easy to moderate. This is a specific difficulty rating for this destination. TriTown Forest Preserve has 9 miles of maintained trails and is located in North Stonington, Griswold, and Preston. For this preserve, the focus is therefore on trail length and its connection to three towns. The two preserve descriptions answer different planning questions: Benedict Benson Preserve provides a hike difficulty rating, while TriTown Forest Preserve describes the extent of its maintained trails. Nine miles refers to a distance, not automatically to the length of a visit. If you compare the two options, treat difficulty and distance as separate criteria.

Considering North Stonington as a Place to Stay

When looking for hotels in North Stonington, it helps to first decide what you want to focus on during your visit. The village and walking tour are suited to a visit focused on local history; the trails offer another way to choose where to go.

Discover more destinations: Old Lyme, Stonington, East Lyme, Uncasville, Preston, Ledyard, Norwich, New London

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