Hike #17
Trail: Metacomet
Section: Rt. 5/Orchard Road (Berlin, CT) to Castle Craig (Meriden, CT)
Distance: 7.2 miles
Approximate time to complete: 3.5 hours
Date Hiked: 11/25/2012
Date Published: 1/9/2013
After my hike on Thanksgiving morning, I was hungry for more of The Metacomet. And, I was also getting hungry from a lack of “higher" elevations. As with all of hikes in Central CT, you have to keep in mind that we don’t have much in the way of really high elevations. So, when I say I was hungry for “higher” elevations I mean I was looking to break out of the 700 foot peaks and break into the 900 foot peaks. And, really the elevation is only an added bonus…I was really just looking for something with some nice views. So, on this Sunday morning…after driving out and back to Rhode Island for a wedding the day before…I decided to head for Castle Craig in Meriden. And, since we had to kennel Roscoe the day before because of the wedding, this would be a solo trip.
Before I get too far into this recap, I want to take a quick minute to point out that Castle Craig is not an actual Castle. It is more of a stone tower than anything else. But, it was designed to look like a castle so Castle Craig it is. If you’ve ever driven on 691 in Meriden, you know the area. I believe, in the summer months, you can go inside and climb to the top of the tower. But the views up there are awesome from the base of the tower, too. I’ll talk more about them toward the end of this recap.
For now, we start at the beginning…and, not only at the beginning of this hike. For all of the miles of The Metacomet which I’ve already covered, I was going to be starting this hike at the actual beginning of The Metacomet Trail.
I’ll also take a minute to note that I left my car at Timberlin Golf Course and had Jaci drop me off at the trail head. Yes, I was originally planning to hike some 13 miles back to my car…but unforeseen complications made it so that I had to call Jaci and ask her to pick me up near Hubbard Park. We’ll get to all of that soon enough.
The first blaze of the trail is on a utility pole on Orchard Road in Berlin…just off of Rt. 5 (The Berlin Turnpike). Jaci stopped as close to the intersection with Rt. 5 as we could and I hopped out to start my journey. It was a cold November morning so I was decked out in my winter Packers coat and hat. Later that night, they would get destroyed by the Giants. But, I was exhausted from the following events so I only saw maybe one or two plays before going to bed.
The trail follows Orchard Road for a long road walk. There isn’t much to write about here. At one point, the road crosses over a set of train tracks. I heard the train coming from a ways off. But, despite my best efforts to hustle and get there in time to see the train pass under my feet, I was unsuccessful. After about a mile and three quarters, once you pass Kensington Road (which will be on your right), the trail turns left (to the south) and enters the woods.
The woods over the next mile or so are not overly thick and the trail is well blazed, but it isn’t my favorite section of The Metacomet because there are a lot of jagged rocks that can be torture on your feet. Also, for all of the good blazing, the trail isn’t well-maintained and you will probably find yourself asking if you should pass the tree with the blaze on the right or the left…a lot. At least, I know I did. There was also a section where the trail came to a clearing and I wasn’t able to follow the actual trail. The brush was so overgrown it looked like nobody had taken the actual trail in a while. Fortunately, I was able to follow a jeep trail through the area and double back to cover the steps I missed. If you aren’t as obsessed with the CT 400 as I am, you can just follow the jeep trail until it meets up with The Metacomet and don’t need to
backtrack.
At around the 3 mile mark, the trail reaches Summit Wood Drive. I’m not sure if there was a recent re-route in the area but the blazes make it look like you will cross Summit Wood Drive and follow the power line cut. The "No Trespassing" signs, however, make it clear that you should stay on this side of the fence and not enter the field. My advice is to just follow Summit Wood Drive. Eventually, the trail will leave the road and do that weird “hike-through-front yards” thing I discussed in my previous recaps (on Prattling Pond Road and Metacomet Road). In one driveway, an elderly looking Golden Retriever kept a watchful eye on me.
The trail ascends here and eventually leaves the developed area behind, but then it starts to do that weird thing again where there are blazes but not much of a trail. I didn’t ever “lose” the trail but it was difficult to tell sometimes which way I was supposed to go. Of course, all of that could be on me since I kept looking to the west to see if I could see Castle Craig in the distance yet.
The trail eventually leads to a spot on the map labeled Victoria Drive, which is basically a dirt road that leads down to Chamberlain Highway (also known as Rt. 71). I lost the trail briefly in this area but then decided just to head down because I knew that it crossed Rt. 71 before the final hike up to the area around Castle Craig. I was a bit caught off-guard when the trail didn’t lead directly out to Rt. 71 and, instead, made a quick turn left back into the woods. I found this next section of trail to be pretty cool. I really wasn’t expecting it to be there and it wound this way and that before leading up to a pretty steep climb. The strange part is that after heading west and south all morning, the climb brought me back east for a bit, before turning south again. It seemed really out of place and, because of that, I’m certain a lot of people who hike this trail miss it. From the top of the climb, the trail follows this little ridge for a stretch before descending to cross a small brook and then Rt. 71.
From Rt. 71, the trail starts to climb again but levels off quickly once you reach the area of Elmere Reservoir. Keep an eye out for the big blue water tank. To the west of the reservoir, the trail ducks back into the woods for about a half of a mile before it reaches the Merimere Reservoir Dam. After a short road walk over the dam, the trail turns left and heads up, up, up to the area around Castle Craig.
By the time, I reached the dam I was already exhausted. The sections of the trail I’ve already covered aren’t overly challenging, but driving back and forth to a wedding in Rhode Island the day before was starting to take its toll. Also, if you know anything about me and weddings, you know there was a lot of dancing and a lot of sweating the night before. Needless to say, I was crazy to think I would be able to complete 13 miles of hiking the day after a wedding…never mind the fact that we also had to drive almost two hours to get home once the wedding was over. All of that aside, I told myself I would not quit this hike before reaching Castle Craig. So, I pressed on.
From the area around the dam, the trail climbs at a quick rate. I’ve mentioned in previous recaps how, after I get home from these hikes, I like to look for Category 5 climbs on the MapMyHike app. Well, this one was impressive. Easily the highest elevation change (climb) I’ve done over such a short time span. But it all is very rewarding. As you make your way up the ridge, there are very nice views overlooking the reservoir below. I was still struggling, but it was nice to stop and enjoy some of the views. I also kept looking to the west…waiting for Castle Craig to come into view…and then, it happened.
Off in the distance, the dark shadow of the tower was mocking me…daring me to continue climbing the ridge. The side trails were tempting me to take them. But, no…I had to complete this in order to check it off of my CT400 miles. The last half mile or so was pretty grueling. But, I made it. I walked up the last bit of road section (yes, you can also drive up here…but why would you want to?) to the base of tower and looked out. All of Southern CT felt like it came into view. I could see 691, 91, Sleeping Giant and all of the other Southern CT landmarks. The best part was, even though it was something of an overcast day, I could see Long Island Sound (which is something like 20 miles away). Awesome!
As I stood there, I decided I was too tired to finish the rest of my planned journey. This was originally going to be my halfway point. Now, there was no way I had another 3 hours of hiking in me. Also, I thought this would make a fitting end to my hike. I called Jaci and asked her to come pick me up. While I waited for her to drive the 40 minutes from our house to Meriden, I made my way back to Rt. 71 by following the roads in the area.
On the way down, I passed some other people who were running and walking the area. They all said something about my Packers gear. I remember being proud to be a Packers fan at that moment. The next morning…when I saw the score of the game against the Giants…not so much…
Trail: Metacomet
Section: Rt. 5/Orchard Road (Berlin, CT) to Castle Craig (Meriden, CT)
Distance: 7.2 miles
Approximate time to complete: 3.5 hours
Date Hiked: 11/25/2012
Date Published: 1/9/2013
After my hike on Thanksgiving morning, I was hungry for more of The Metacomet. And, I was also getting hungry from a lack of “higher" elevations. As with all of hikes in Central CT, you have to keep in mind that we don’t have much in the way of really high elevations. So, when I say I was hungry for “higher” elevations I mean I was looking to break out of the 700 foot peaks and break into the 900 foot peaks. And, really the elevation is only an added bonus…I was really just looking for something with some nice views. So, on this Sunday morning…after driving out and back to Rhode Island for a wedding the day before…I decided to head for Castle Craig in Meriden. And, since we had to kennel Roscoe the day before because of the wedding, this would be a solo trip.
Before I get too far into this recap, I want to take a quick minute to point out that Castle Craig is not an actual Castle. It is more of a stone tower than anything else. But, it was designed to look like a castle so Castle Craig it is. If you’ve ever driven on 691 in Meriden, you know the area. I believe, in the summer months, you can go inside and climb to the top of the tower. But the views up there are awesome from the base of the tower, too. I’ll talk more about them toward the end of this recap.
For now, we start at the beginning…and, not only at the beginning of this hike. For all of the miles of The Metacomet which I’ve already covered, I was going to be starting this hike at the actual beginning of The Metacomet Trail.
I’ll also take a minute to note that I left my car at Timberlin Golf Course and had Jaci drop me off at the trail head. Yes, I was originally planning to hike some 13 miles back to my car…but unforeseen complications made it so that I had to call Jaci and ask her to pick me up near Hubbard Park. We’ll get to all of that soon enough.
The first blaze of the trail is on a utility pole on Orchard Road in Berlin…just off of Rt. 5 (The Berlin Turnpike). Jaci stopped as close to the intersection with Rt. 5 as we could and I hopped out to start my journey. It was a cold November morning so I was decked out in my winter Packers coat and hat. Later that night, they would get destroyed by the Giants. But, I was exhausted from the following events so I only saw maybe one or two plays before going to bed.
The trail follows Orchard Road for a long road walk. There isn’t much to write about here. At one point, the road crosses over a set of train tracks. I heard the train coming from a ways off. But, despite my best efforts to hustle and get there in time to see the train pass under my feet, I was unsuccessful. After about a mile and three quarters, once you pass Kensington Road (which will be on your right), the trail turns left (to the south) and enters the woods.
The woods over the next mile or so are not overly thick and the trail is well blazed, but it isn’t my favorite section of The Metacomet because there are a lot of jagged rocks that can be torture on your feet. Also, for all of the good blazing, the trail isn’t well-maintained and you will probably find yourself asking if you should pass the tree with the blaze on the right or the left…a lot. At least, I know I did. There was also a section where the trail came to a clearing and I wasn’t able to follow the actual trail. The brush was so overgrown it looked like nobody had taken the actual trail in a while. Fortunately, I was able to follow a jeep trail through the area and double back to cover the steps I missed. If you aren’t as obsessed with the CT 400 as I am, you can just follow the jeep trail until it meets up with The Metacomet and don’t need to
backtrack.
At around the 3 mile mark, the trail reaches Summit Wood Drive. I’m not sure if there was a recent re-route in the area but the blazes make it look like you will cross Summit Wood Drive and follow the power line cut. The "No Trespassing" signs, however, make it clear that you should stay on this side of the fence and not enter the field. My advice is to just follow Summit Wood Drive. Eventually, the trail will leave the road and do that weird “hike-through-front yards” thing I discussed in my previous recaps (on Prattling Pond Road and Metacomet Road). In one driveway, an elderly looking Golden Retriever kept a watchful eye on me.
The trail ascends here and eventually leaves the developed area behind, but then it starts to do that weird thing again where there are blazes but not much of a trail. I didn’t ever “lose” the trail but it was difficult to tell sometimes which way I was supposed to go. Of course, all of that could be on me since I kept looking to the west to see if I could see Castle Craig in the distance yet.
The trail eventually leads to a spot on the map labeled Victoria Drive, which is basically a dirt road that leads down to Chamberlain Highway (also known as Rt. 71). I lost the trail briefly in this area but then decided just to head down because I knew that it crossed Rt. 71 before the final hike up to the area around Castle Craig. I was a bit caught off-guard when the trail didn’t lead directly out to Rt. 71 and, instead, made a quick turn left back into the woods. I found this next section of trail to be pretty cool. I really wasn’t expecting it to be there and it wound this way and that before leading up to a pretty steep climb. The strange part is that after heading west and south all morning, the climb brought me back east for a bit, before turning south again. It seemed really out of place and, because of that, I’m certain a lot of people who hike this trail miss it. From the top of the climb, the trail follows this little ridge for a stretch before descending to cross a small brook and then Rt. 71.
From Rt. 71, the trail starts to climb again but levels off quickly once you reach the area of Elmere Reservoir. Keep an eye out for the big blue water tank. To the west of the reservoir, the trail ducks back into the woods for about a half of a mile before it reaches the Merimere Reservoir Dam. After a short road walk over the dam, the trail turns left and heads up, up, up to the area around Castle Craig.
By the time, I reached the dam I was already exhausted. The sections of the trail I’ve already covered aren’t overly challenging, but driving back and forth to a wedding in Rhode Island the day before was starting to take its toll. Also, if you know anything about me and weddings, you know there was a lot of dancing and a lot of sweating the night before. Needless to say, I was crazy to think I would be able to complete 13 miles of hiking the day after a wedding…never mind the fact that we also had to drive almost two hours to get home once the wedding was over. All of that aside, I told myself I would not quit this hike before reaching Castle Craig. So, I pressed on.
From the area around the dam, the trail climbs at a quick rate. I’ve mentioned in previous recaps how, after I get home from these hikes, I like to look for Category 5 climbs on the MapMyHike app. Well, this one was impressive. Easily the highest elevation change (climb) I’ve done over such a short time span. But it all is very rewarding. As you make your way up the ridge, there are very nice views overlooking the reservoir below. I was still struggling, but it was nice to stop and enjoy some of the views. I also kept looking to the west…waiting for Castle Craig to come into view…and then, it happened.
Off in the distance, the dark shadow of the tower was mocking me…daring me to continue climbing the ridge. The side trails were tempting me to take them. But, no…I had to complete this in order to check it off of my CT400 miles. The last half mile or so was pretty grueling. But, I made it. I walked up the last bit of road section (yes, you can also drive up here…but why would you want to?) to the base of tower and looked out. All of Southern CT felt like it came into view. I could see 691, 91, Sleeping Giant and all of the other Southern CT landmarks. The best part was, even though it was something of an overcast day, I could see Long Island Sound (which is something like 20 miles away). Awesome!
As I stood there, I decided I was too tired to finish the rest of my planned journey. This was originally going to be my halfway point. Now, there was no way I had another 3 hours of hiking in me. Also, I thought this would make a fitting end to my hike. I called Jaci and asked her to come pick me up. While I waited for her to drive the 40 minutes from our house to Meriden, I made my way back to Rt. 71 by following the roads in the area.
On the way down, I passed some other people who were running and walking the area. They all said something about my Packers gear. I remember being proud to be a Packers fan at that moment. The next morning…when I saw the score of the game against the Giants…not so much…