A Walk Across the Giant

The Naugatuck Trail runs through the East Block of the Naugatuck State Forest in Bethany – from Route 42 near Simpson Pond to Route 8 in Beacon Falls. The 5 ½ mile trail is a shadow of its former self, when it covered a much longer route between the Quinnipiac and Paugussett Trails. Since I was hiking out and back - and adding the three side trails - this hike covered about 10 ½ miles. Trail Map from CT State DEP    Note - you can get a better topographic map with route and full trail description from the Connecticut Forest and Park Association - the Walk Book West .  After all, this is who maintains the trail! There is only space for a couple of cars along the road at the Route 42 trailhead (see map). I parked instead at the Whittemore trailhead just a quarter mile west, and then hiked back to start the Naugie. Old stone walls and foundation from the previous owner. Along the road, there are remnants of stone foundations and walls from homesteads prior to the ...

Nayantaquit Trail in the Lyme section of the Nehantic State Forest – 4 mile loop trail with two side trails, total hike about 7 miles.          State Forest Map                                         State Forest Website The Nehantic State Forest is the first in New London County , with land purchases completed in 1925.  It’s broken into two sections, here in the Lyme block and then the East Lyme block a little farther to the northeast. The entrance to the state forest is off Route 156 in Lyme – on a small dirt road that’s easy to miss.    If you’re coming up from the south, as I was, and pass Elsie and here friends at Tiffany Farms, you’ve gone too far.    The entrance road,   Keeny Road , is a dirt/crushed rock road that winds along the southern end of the forest leading to two small lakes: Norwich Pond and Uncas Po...

Last September I hiked the Zoar Trail in the Paugussett State Forest expecting to have lunch next to the huge waterfall where Prydden Brook empties into Lake Zoar .  Imagine my disappointment to find a bone dry brook and a lot of dry rocks were there was supposed to be a gushing waterfall. Now with the melted snow and early spring rains, it was worth another trip into the forest to see what the brook and falls were like.  And voila, Prydden Falls: I started the same route as my last trip – parking at the Great Quarter Road trailhead lot and hiking in along the lake.  To be accurate, Lake Zoar isn’t a lake, but a wide section of the Housatonic River upstream of the Stevenson Dam.  The town of Zoar was flooded in 1919 when the river was dammed for power generation, so they got the ‘lake’ named after them.  The Zoar Trail is a loop route along the river, crossing the Prydden Brook just above the falls, and then coming back around through the Paugussett...

4.7 mile trail, with a ¾ mile alternate trail to make loop hikes possible. The Chatfield Trail runs between Route 80 and River Road in Killingworth, just south of Chatfield Hollow State Park .  The north section of the trail travels through Foster Pond State Park , an undeveloped section of the Cockaponset State Forest .  The southern section skirts state land and wanders through some privately owned property. I couldn't find good maps on line, so here's one more good reason to go out and buy the Connecticut Walk Books .  Chatfield Trail is in the East book. The north trailhead, with parking for about eight cars, is ¼ mile west of the state park on Route 80.  And old forest road starts you off from the parking area.  There’s also a new trailhead right across the street from the Chatfield Hollow entrance – it joins up with the main trail about a ¼ mile in.

Colchester CT 6.7 mile loop trail through the Salmon River State Forest and the Day Pond Brook State Park .      Trail Map                   Salmon River State Forest              Day Pond State Park The Salmon River Trail starts with a stroll across one of the last active covered bridges in Connecticut , the Comstock Bridge .  This photo is from a great site that chronicles the covered bridges in the state.  The bridge was built in the 1870’s for horse and buggy, and then pedestrian, traffic.  But here’s the state of the bridge today.  It was starting to sag and fail, and the great news is that instead of being replaced with a modern bridge, it’s being restored with much of the original material and design.  Expected completion next June.  You can catch up on the details here . 

American Legion State Forest – the trails that  CCC built Park Web Site                                    Trail Map The American Legion State Forest is on the west bank of the west branch of the Farmington River in Barkhamsted , CT.   It’s a beautiful area, great for camping, fishing, canoeing along the river, with two short blue-blazed trails: the Henry Buck Trail , and the Turkey Vulture Ledge Trail.  I was at Bradley Airport early Thursday morning, about 20 minutes away, so picked these for a quick hike.

North terminus of the Quinnipiac Trail at Rt 68 in Prospect, to Rocky Top Road in Hamden, 14 miles. Maybe the most photographed boundary marker in town To finish the Quinnipiac Trail, I started at the end (according to the Connecticut Walk Book, anyway) and hiked back through a couple of sections.  The trail starts at the corner of Route 68 and Chatfield St. in Prospect, and the initial ¾ of a mile takes you up the street, around the corner, past the farmer’s field and to the water towers at the end of Cornwall Ave.  And we still haven’t hit the woods yet!  Around the fence, and onto an old stagecoach road, the trail heads up the hill into the woods at a Cheshire – Prospect boundary marker.  ...up the hill to the crest of Prospect Ridge. This traprock ridge forms the border between Cheshire and Prospect – there are stone walls along the way marking the properties.  The trail follows the ridge, which should give you a look in the dista...