Hodge Pond South
Posted By auntie on April 8, 2015
4.25 miles; voluntown, ct
every now and again i get a real hankering to re-visit a hike (and isn’t that a grand word, “hankering?”). i’ve been thinking about this hike for a while, and today i managed to get there. it has a lot of really interesting features, and despite the fact that this part of the pachaug is basically given over to motorized vehicles, there are some nice sections of trail, though no blue-blazed hiking trails run through here.
old stone house
the first half mile brings you to this old stone house. i first noticed the fireplace that’s across the trail from it. it seems to be fairly recent, since there’s actually a cement patio-like area in back. the pachaug state forest was created or at least expanded during the great depression, so i’m guessing this place is early 20th century.
intermittent waterfall
at about the one-mile mark, you come to the waterfall. it’s really just an intermittent stream; i’ve been through here when it didn’t exist. in fact, this whole hike was a series of water crossings. you’re basically walking through the watersheds of two big brooks in the area, the myron kinney brook and the dark hollow brook—lots and lots of intermittent streams.
the unexpected bridge
this is one of my favorite features on this hike, the unexpected bridge. you’re walking along through the woods on a fairly narrow little trail, and suddenly you come upon this very nicely-constructed bridge, with cement aprons.
ah-ha! a clue
i’ve crossed this bridge at least a half dozen times, but i’ve never noticed this plaque before. the central cycle club is a motocross organization. which would explain the concrete aprons on the bridge. word to the wise: don’t try this hike on a weekend—you’ll prolly get run over.
cellarholes and stone walls
toward the end of this hike you come across a very large, impressive complex of cellarholes and stone walls. it’s really beautiful.
you can find this hike in the hikefinder. trailhead, auntie’s trail map. and contact me if you want the gps track for this hike.
[…] did the southern part of this back in april and today i tacked on a little over 2 miles by looping north of hodge pond road before i went back […]