Saunders Preserve The 69-acre Saunders Preserve, nestled between Honey Hill and Hedlund Roads in the southern section of East Haddam, is a “geologic gem.”This is an easy to moderate loop trail, with approximately 2 miles of trailsfeaturingrocky ledges typical of this part of the stateand a large erratic perched atop a hill with a white blazed spur loop that crosses right past it. The trails wind through mature forest (including oaks, beech, birch, maple, hickory, tulip, and sassafras), shrubby understory (blueberry, winterberry, mountain laurel, spicebush, maple leaf viburnum), and forested wetlands. The Preserve lies atop both the Pattaconk Brook Fault and the Honey Hill Fault, revealing geology in the northern half of the preserve that is fundamentally different from that in the southern half, with fault rocks including pseudotachylyte, a relatively rare rock created with the friction, heating, and local melting associated with slip during ancient earthquakes. The Saunders Preserve was acquired by East Haddam Land Trust in 2023 from the family of John and Diana Saunders, longtime East Haddam residents who wished to see the land preserved in perpetuity.