Green Fall Gorge
Posted By auntie on November 25, 2017
3.8 miles; Voluntown, CT
This hike was mostly to check out the new bridge installed by the CFPA. I expected it to go across the Green Fall River, but I was wrong; instead, it makes a particularly tough section of the trail along the eastern side of the river much less treacherous. I also ran into a quintet of hunting yahoos dragging the carcass of a 10-point buck down the gorge. Guess they never heard of field dressing?
This hike, if you start from the State Line marker on Green Fall/Camp Yawgoog Roads and go counterclockwise, starts with a longish road walk. It could be worse… it’s a dirt-road-walk, and I was not the only one walking on it this morning, judging by the fresh raccoon prints.
The new structure is just north of the Green Fall River crossing. Which, by the way, is still a treacherous collection of slippery logs, so the “adventure” has not been taken out of this hike entirely. It was right at the river crossing that I met the “intrepid” (if by intrepid, you mean slightly drunk) hunters. Yeah, I smelled beer as I walked by them. Because of them, I opted not to cross the river here, but continued up the west bank. There isn’t a real trail on this side, but it’s very navigable, and eventually you intersect the road to the dam.
There had been rain earlier in the week, and there was plenty of water in the old peg mill sluiceway. Plenty of water in Peg Mill Brook itself, for that matter. There’s a spot where the trail crosses the brook, and 99% of the time it’s a very easy crossing. This time the usual spot to cross was under water, so I will admit to having gotten a bit wet trying to find another way… just my right foot, though.
Not counting the road walk, the trail I took is actually the blue-blazed Narragansett Trail, which is maintained by the Connecticut Forest and Park Association. You can read more about the vast (825 miles at last count) network of blue-blazed trails throughout Connecticut at the website of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association. Be sure to check out the interactive map. As always, click on the image, above, for details about this hike and to download the GPS track.
[…] been on this trail since the drunk hunters way back when, and I missed it. Glad to be […]