Seamus McKeon, pictured here with daughter Molly, is a New Milford resident and a long-time Weantinoge volunteer who has helped us blaze and map trails, under the supervision of his trusty companion Babu, a black lab.

Seamus and his wife Lydia raised their family in Roxbury where they enjoyed the Roxbury Land Trust’s trail system. In 2007, Seamus and Lydia moved to New Milford. For Seamus, when the seemingly simple question, “Where can I walk my dogs?” didn’t have a straightforward answer, it launched a passion project to find and map New Milford’s public trails.

Seamus began mapping Weantinoge preserves and then enlarged his focus area, discovering that New Milford offers over 27 miles of trails for residents to explore! Not content to stick with hiking trails, Seamus expanded his project to include information about which scenic dirt roads are a safe and enjoyable walk or bicycle ride. Seamus explained, “Dirt roads can bring people closer to nature, and are easier to navigate for older people, families with young children in strollers, or anybody who has reduced mobility.” Seamus says two things made his project possible 1) inspiration from John Baker’s book of Kent trails and 2) training by Weantinoge’s Paul Elconin on the iphone-based app MotionXGPS.

Next, Seamus moved from land to water. An avid kayaker, in 2016 Seamus participated in the Housatonic Valley Association’s Source to Sound event and came away energized about the river’s possibilities for New Milford residents. Put-ins for kayaks and canoes can be found along the Housatonic, but information about how long users can leave their car without getting a ticket was harder to find. Seamus has gathered information on where it is safe for paddlers to leave their car.

Thanks to Seamus’ dedication and effort, this information about New Milford’s hiking trails, scenic dirt roads, and boat launches will is available on New Milford’s website, click here, then choose “Boat Launches and Hiking Trails”! Seamus sits on the town of New Milford’s Economic Development Commission and the New Milford Bike and Trails Commission, where he represents the interests of the town’s outdoor enthusiasts. Based on his mapping project, there’s a lot to explore. Weantinoge is happy to be part of this public network of trails.