Chaney Wildlife Sanctuary

Posted By on December 20, 2014

Chaney Wildlife Sanctuary

3.5 miles; montville, ct

today my never-ending quest to find non-hunting areas to hike on saturdays led me to this audubon society property in montville, ct. the write-up on the sanctuaries page of the audubon website reads

This 233-acre Sanctuary can be easily explored on its well-developed trails. Highlights include upland forest, field, swamp, and wetland habitats.

there is no link to a trail map, and i couldn’t find one anywhere online, but i naively expected, oh, at a minimum maybe a trail head kiosk with a map, or maybe even a little stash of maps. what i actually found when i arrived at the parking area i was directed to was…. nothing. bupkis. no signs, no maps, no kiosk. just a dirt road blocked by boulders with parking for maybe 3 cars. since i figured i was at least close to the right place, i parked and just ventured off.

the trail

the trail

the old woods road i followed was clear and had been maintained, so i figured i was in the right place.

old cabin

old cabin

after some considerable ambling, i came across an old home site, complete with several large, impressive cellar holes and an abandoned cabin.

mysterious hole!

mysterious hole!

and best of all, a mysterious hole in the ground! cool. it was deep and narrow, and at first i thought it might be a tunnel of sorts, but a brief exploration turned up a back wall.

back wall

back wall

still. pretty cool.

trail sign

trail sign

i followed the old woods road for quite a ways, until it became mostly a small brook and was kind of impassable. i could tell from the gps, as well, that i was coming to an intersection with a road (fire road), so i turned around and retraced my steps. in the opposite direction, i eventually came out onto another road, and lo and behold… a sign. granted, it’s kind of a mixed message, what with the POSTED NO TRESPASSING KEEP OUT sign right next to it. but this is ridge hill road, not the road that the audubon society directs you to. hm. i followed ridge hill road for a very short stretch, and at a break in the stone wall lining the road, i headed off onto what was obviously a footpath.

the footpath i followed was the best part of the hike. it follows a high ridge with a steep drop-off on the left. it’s a very fun path. and i was happy to see it ultimately intersected with the original woods road i followed from my car, so loop trail!

once i got back to my car i decided to see if i could find where the woods road came out on fire road and sure enough, there’s another sign at that end.

another sign

another sign

there’s a bit more parking here as well.

i have added this property to the hikefinder, and have included an “auntie” map.

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