Hike #20
Location: Natchaug State Forest, James L. Goodwin State Forest
Trails: Multiple including Natchaug Trail and CCC Loop Trail
Distance: 10.13 miles
Approximate time to complete: 4.25 hours
Date Hiked: 12/8/2012
Date Published: 1/12/2013
My first hike over 10 miles was one which I originally planned as an out and back. But, as we made our way through the forests of the eastern portion of the state, I decided to change plans and ended up doing a bunch of road walking. The negatives of this include the fact that road walking towards the end of hike is never fun. The positives include the fact that I was able to cover a lot distance in a short amount of
time, all while not having to retrace my steps too much.
It was another Saturday morning in which I had to get my haircut. So, Roscoe and I made our way to the barber where he waited in the car
patiently. From the barber shop in Tolland, we continued east along Rt. 74 and past over a couple of other trails along the way. I got excited about the prospect of coming back for those trails in the future. For now, we kept driving and I eventually parked the car at Nathaniel Lyon Memorial Park in Eastford. We hit the trail.
We started out by taking The Natchaug Trail, which heads predominately south. The blazes were easy to spot from the parking area so we just followed them to the southeast.
It wasn’t long before the trail took us out to Kingsbury Road, the road used to access the parking area. The trail follows this road for about a tenth of a mile before making a left turn into the woods towards Beaverdam Marsh. I found this area to be very nice.
After about three quarters of a mile, the trail comes to an alternate parking area, near Beaverdam Marsh. I made a right and turned back on to Kingsbury Road. At this point, I was heading back the way I just came but it was only for a short stretch in order to pick up the CCC Loop Trail (Blue / Yellow Blazed). This trail, which is a 3.1 mile trail, will eventually connect back up with The Natchaug Trail further south in the forest.
Often times, the side trails required to complete the CT400 aren’t as good as the main trails. Not the CCC Loop Trail. It has just about everything and I loved it. Wood bridges, brooks, streams, ferns, pines, laurel, ups, downs. You name it…this little 3.1 mile trail in the middle of the Natchaug Forest has it all. My only real complaint is that the last half mile or so follows a woods road. Not my favorite section, but the 2.6
miles or so before the woods road are awesome.
Eventually, the CCC Loop Trail connects back with the main Natchaug Trail. My plan was to cover the section I missed (to the north) later on my way back through. For now, we made a right turn and headed south and followed the trail towards the James L. Goodwin State Forest.
Not far from the area of the turn off, maybe a quarter of a mile or so, I had a cool nature experience. Seemingly from nowhere, about 1000 birds flew overhead. It was like something out of a Hitchcock movie. I’m terrible at identifying birds, but I do know that they were small and
they seemed to be migrating. The birds at the front of this massive flock landed in the high branches of the large trees while the birds that were initially trailing behind started to move ahead and take up the lead position. My guess is they do this so that they can take turns resting. It was really cool to see nature in action like this.
After the scene with the birds, we continued heading south. We crossed a couple of roads (Morey and Marcy Roads). Somewhere in this stretch was a cool descent which ran parallel to a brook. As the water flows downhill, there are a couple of sections that are “waterfall-like”, in that you
can hear the rushing water…but it never drops more than six inches at a time. Regardless, I thought it was pretty cool.
Eventually, the trail came to the area of Orchard Hill. At 670 feet, the elevation here isn’t great…but the view was nice. And, it was still pretty cool even though I was hiking this trail on a pretty cloudy day. I’m sure on a nice day it is a great view.
From Orchard Hill, we continued south for another half mile or so before we came to the area which intersects with the Orange Trail from my (previous) Goodwin State Forest hike. There is an old foundation not too far from where I turned on my previous hike. I laughed to myself because I had been looking for it and must have just missed it on that hike. Since we had already covered the Natchaug Trail south of here on that previous hike, and we had already traveled the Orange Trail that same day, my original plan was to turn around and follow the Natchaug Trail north (back to the car). However, once we got here, I decided I didn’t want to walk the same miles I had already covered. So, my new plan was to follow some of the woods roads and paved roads in the area in order to switch it up.
Eventually, we made our way back to Morey Road and I followed that to the east. It changes names somewhere (to Station Road) but it is very much still the same road. When we reached Kingsbury Road (again), I made a left and started heading north. After a mile and a quarter of road walking on Kingsbury Road, I made another left…turning back on to the woods road which I previously traveled to connect from the CCC Loop Trail to the Natchaug Trail. Once I made it back around to the spot where I previously went south, I turned to head north and cover the remaining miles of the Natchaug.
The steps of the Natchaug I had previously skipped, by taking the CCC Loop Trail, are equally as nice. There is another wood bridge, more ferns, more pines and roughly the same amount of ups and downs. I enjoyed this final section before heading back to the car.
One final note…earlier in the week, the orange vest Roscoe was wearing came in the mail so this was his first hike while wearing it. We originally bought it to keep him safe from hunters. We took measurements and provided them to the place we ordered the vest from and everything. Well, our best intentions were again met with injury. A few hours after we got home, I noticed he had some severe chaffing where the vest came around the front of his front legs. So, the vest has since been retired. Don’t expect to see it on him ever again.
Location: Natchaug State Forest, James L. Goodwin State Forest
Trails: Multiple including Natchaug Trail and CCC Loop Trail
Distance: 10.13 miles
Approximate time to complete: 4.25 hours
Date Hiked: 12/8/2012
Date Published: 1/12/2013
My first hike over 10 miles was one which I originally planned as an out and back. But, as we made our way through the forests of the eastern portion of the state, I decided to change plans and ended up doing a bunch of road walking. The negatives of this include the fact that road walking towards the end of hike is never fun. The positives include the fact that I was able to cover a lot distance in a short amount of
time, all while not having to retrace my steps too much.
It was another Saturday morning in which I had to get my haircut. So, Roscoe and I made our way to the barber where he waited in the car
patiently. From the barber shop in Tolland, we continued east along Rt. 74 and past over a couple of other trails along the way. I got excited about the prospect of coming back for those trails in the future. For now, we kept driving and I eventually parked the car at Nathaniel Lyon Memorial Park in Eastford. We hit the trail.
We started out by taking The Natchaug Trail, which heads predominately south. The blazes were easy to spot from the parking area so we just followed them to the southeast.
It wasn’t long before the trail took us out to Kingsbury Road, the road used to access the parking area. The trail follows this road for about a tenth of a mile before making a left turn into the woods towards Beaverdam Marsh. I found this area to be very nice.
After about three quarters of a mile, the trail comes to an alternate parking area, near Beaverdam Marsh. I made a right and turned back on to Kingsbury Road. At this point, I was heading back the way I just came but it was only for a short stretch in order to pick up the CCC Loop Trail (Blue / Yellow Blazed). This trail, which is a 3.1 mile trail, will eventually connect back up with The Natchaug Trail further south in the forest.
Often times, the side trails required to complete the CT400 aren’t as good as the main trails. Not the CCC Loop Trail. It has just about everything and I loved it. Wood bridges, brooks, streams, ferns, pines, laurel, ups, downs. You name it…this little 3.1 mile trail in the middle of the Natchaug Forest has it all. My only real complaint is that the last half mile or so follows a woods road. Not my favorite section, but the 2.6
miles or so before the woods road are awesome.
Eventually, the CCC Loop Trail connects back with the main Natchaug Trail. My plan was to cover the section I missed (to the north) later on my way back through. For now, we made a right turn and headed south and followed the trail towards the James L. Goodwin State Forest.
Not far from the area of the turn off, maybe a quarter of a mile or so, I had a cool nature experience. Seemingly from nowhere, about 1000 birds flew overhead. It was like something out of a Hitchcock movie. I’m terrible at identifying birds, but I do know that they were small and
they seemed to be migrating. The birds at the front of this massive flock landed in the high branches of the large trees while the birds that were initially trailing behind started to move ahead and take up the lead position. My guess is they do this so that they can take turns resting. It was really cool to see nature in action like this.
After the scene with the birds, we continued heading south. We crossed a couple of roads (Morey and Marcy Roads). Somewhere in this stretch was a cool descent which ran parallel to a brook. As the water flows downhill, there are a couple of sections that are “waterfall-like”, in that you
can hear the rushing water…but it never drops more than six inches at a time. Regardless, I thought it was pretty cool.
Eventually, the trail came to the area of Orchard Hill. At 670 feet, the elevation here isn’t great…but the view was nice. And, it was still pretty cool even though I was hiking this trail on a pretty cloudy day. I’m sure on a nice day it is a great view.
From Orchard Hill, we continued south for another half mile or so before we came to the area which intersects with the Orange Trail from my (previous) Goodwin State Forest hike. There is an old foundation not too far from where I turned on my previous hike. I laughed to myself because I had been looking for it and must have just missed it on that hike. Since we had already covered the Natchaug Trail south of here on that previous hike, and we had already traveled the Orange Trail that same day, my original plan was to turn around and follow the Natchaug Trail north (back to the car). However, once we got here, I decided I didn’t want to walk the same miles I had already covered. So, my new plan was to follow some of the woods roads and paved roads in the area in order to switch it up.
Eventually, we made our way back to Morey Road and I followed that to the east. It changes names somewhere (to Station Road) but it is very much still the same road. When we reached Kingsbury Road (again), I made a left and started heading north. After a mile and a quarter of road walking on Kingsbury Road, I made another left…turning back on to the woods road which I previously traveled to connect from the CCC Loop Trail to the Natchaug Trail. Once I made it back around to the spot where I previously went south, I turned to head north and cover the remaining miles of the Natchaug.
The steps of the Natchaug I had previously skipped, by taking the CCC Loop Trail, are equally as nice. There is another wood bridge, more ferns, more pines and roughly the same amount of ups and downs. I enjoyed this final section before heading back to the car.
One final note…earlier in the week, the orange vest Roscoe was wearing came in the mail so this was his first hike while wearing it. We originally bought it to keep him safe from hunters. We took measurements and provided them to the place we ordered the vest from and everything. Well, our best intentions were again met with injury. A few hours after we got home, I noticed he had some severe chaffing where the vest came around the front of his front legs. So, the vest has since been retired. Don’t expect to see it on him ever again.