Hodge Pond, “Twin Oaks Farm”
Posted By auntie on September 25, 2017
5.06 miles; Voluntown, CT
This was supposed to be a mushroom-hunting hike, but there was nary a fungus to be seen except for some old gilled things of questionable edibility. So I also did a little exploring of the old cellar hole complex I call “Twin Oaks Farm” and took a side-trip down to Coal Pit Hill Road. Both very interesting. But the weather! One hardly expects to be hiking in mid-80 degree temps this late in September.
Twin Oaks
Why “Twin Oaks Farm”? I have no historical information whatsoever to give it that name, and I have no idea who farmed here once or what they called the place. I call it Twin Oaks because of these two big oaks that look like they flank a bar-way in the stone wall near the farmhouse cellar hole.
Well
I found the wellhead this trip, too, not far from the farmhouse cellar hole. You can see the waypoint for it that I marked on the track, below.
Old Rusty Bits
And someone, or several someones, placed a lot of old rusty bits of metal on the stone wall near the well.
Possible Barn?
Across the gravel road from the farmhouse there is a large rectangular enclosure which, judging from the height of the walls, may have been the barn. Again, I have no particular expertise here, just guessing.
As I mentioned above, I also took a stroll south to Coal Pit Hill Road, just out of curiosity to see what it was like. The “trail,” actually an old woods or farm road, is heavily eroded by motorized vehicles, so it’s rocky in places and very wet in other places, but still passable. If I’d have had more time I would have headed east on Coal Pit Hill Road to where it is crossed by the Narragansett Trail. There is another large complex of cellar holes and stone work there, too. But I ran out of time.
There’s not a lot online about this part of the Pachaug State Forest. The best trail map you’ll find for this area is the one published by Great Swamp Press, which can be ordered through their website or, if you live locally, can be purchased at URE Outfitters in Hope Valley, RI. But call first to make sure they have the Pachaug one in stock. As always, click on the image, above, for details about this section and to download the GPS track.
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