A Walk Across the Giant

         Southford Falls State Park , Oxford , CT           State Park site                         Trail Map There are over a hundred state parks in little Connecticut , and beyond Sleeping Giant, I’ve only been to a few – those with miles of trails on their own or where one of the blue-blazed trails passes through.  At 120 acres, Southford Falls is one of the smaller parks. But I am a sucker for waterfalls, and when a photo group planned a shoot at Southford Falls , I had to check it out.  The falls are a beautiful photo spot, but don’t stop there.  The state park is a great place to spend some time and wander around.  The falls run on Eight Mile Brook as it flows from Lake Quassapaug to the Housatonic River .  If you're mapping it out, be careful to avoid wrong turns from the naming convention used out here - this ...

Cairns .  Cairns are simply man-made piles of stone.  Out on a hike, we’ve all seen them used for trail or summit markers.  This one on Brace Mountain not only marks the summit, but acts as a base for the parasailer’s wind sock. Connecticut High Point on Mt Frissell Around here, most trails are marked by painted spots on trees.  But on rocky passes, or in places like utility corridors where there are no trees, those piles of stone mark the trail - especially where the path isn’t obvious.  Ducks ( cairns with a pointed rock – a beak – on top) may point you in the trail’s direction.  Blue Trail cairn on the Mattabesett Trail The rock piles are often about a foot or two high, and whenever I pass I may add a couple of stones to keep the pile neat and pointing the right way.  But things have gotten out of hand!   Some of the trails are just littered with little piles of rock – 5, 8, 10 stones high.  Hopeful...

Fall in New England, it's a really nice time to hike - cool days, colorful leaves...   and the Quinnipiac Trail through Hamden is a great trail - woods, hills, views, rivers etc etc.  But for the last couple of years, there have been trail interruptions for road and bridge construction and a little logging.  The projects are near done, and pretty soon I think the trail will be remapped and remarked.  Until then, it's a little tricky through this section, and the CFPA recommends an alternate route around the mess. The original and detour routes make a loop hike I've done a lot - this time I took pictures. The trail leaves Sleeping Giant State Park along the Mill River, and runs right smack into bridge construction on Mt Carmel Ave, and the road realignment project at the corner of Whitney Ave, Mt Carmel Ave and West Woods Rd.  Once the construction is completed, the blue trail will go over the new bridge and back into the woods along old walls and fo...

With a couple of hours to kill, I took what is one of my favorite hikes through Sleeping Giant Park.  Out on the quiet northern side of the mountain, parking at the Circle trailhead on Tuttle Ave, this little loop starts with a walk through horse country, a short uphill hike, and then a nice little wander by streams and waterfalls.  And since we're still drying out from string of storms that came through this summer, there's plenty of water running. I hiked along the horse path west from the parking area, past the pastures along Tuttle Ave.  Sections are pretty soggy where the water runs off the hills but doesn't quite drain out to the road.  Turn uphill at the Red Triangle trail.  This one leads up along a stream gorge - nice scenery but little water.  There is one steep and narrow section of the trail where it crosses the top of the gorge, but a fallen tree makes a good handrail to lean on.  Turn back east at the Violet trail...

Part 2 - the Mattabesett Hike date June 13, 2011   I left you right here in Part 1 , just off the Reservoir Loop Trail and on the Mattabesett Trail heading north toward River Road.  I'll still detail the hike as it's done in the Connecticut Forest and Park Association's Walk Book , but I have to get up to the north trailhead first! Following the blue blazes is supposed to be easy - just follow the trail and see a blue patch every once in a while to confirm you're in the right place.  And it was just like that for a few miles, until I got close to a trail section near power lines.  The trail was clear, though there are woods roads and bike/quad trails all through here.  The trail obviously bent to the left, and I hiked up and over a ledge crossing, down along a woods road until I realized it's been a long time since I saw a trail blaze!  Look forward - no blaze.  Look backward - no blaze.  Backtrack, follow another clearing, turn around aga...