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The Gimbel Sanctuary is part of the former 200-acre Gimbel estate, which was bought by Issac Gimbel in 1925 and occupied by his family for three generations. The Gimbel Foundation gave 37 acres to the local Audubon Society of Greenwich chapter in 1972 and John Fereri gave another 43 acres in 1995.

You can enter Gimbel Sanctuary from two sides. The main entrance is via a trail from a 6-car parking lot on Sherwood Avenue opposite Nutmeg Drive, or you can enter the sanctuary by a 50 ft. wide tree-shaded right of way adjacent to the Greenwich Woods Nursing Home on King Street where parking is available on the south side of the Greenwich Woods parking lot by the stone wall.

The 80-acre Gimbel Sanctuary provides a wide diversity of habitats to explore. A hardwood forest of oak, hickory, beech and tulip trees, as well as groves of spruce, pine, fir and hemlock are crossed by several small streams and wetlands. A large old field hosts grouse and wild turkeys as well as nesting bluebirds in the spring and summer. Near the parking area is a flood retaining wall and an old orchard that provides a cloud of apple blossoms in the spring. The adjacent path leads to an open meadow and then to a memorial garden filled with plants attractive to butterflies. A hiking trail connects the Gimbel Sanctuary to the Nature Conservancy’s Byram River Gorge Preserve to the north.

Click here for a trail map.

The sanctuaries of Audubon Greenwich are open from dawn to dusk.
Please help us preserve them by observing our rules:
take only photos, leave only footprints,
keep on the trails, leave bikes and pets at home.
Do not disturb the animals. Do not pick plants or wildflowers.