Posted By auntie on January 2, 2015

4.38 miles; north stonington, ct

once again, i could barely motivate today, but i got dressed in my hiking clothes and went out anyway. glad i did, of course. this loop is shorter than i had recorded last time, so i have made changes to the entry in the hikefinder. also, it’s a wee bit tricky to navigate and there are a lot of water crossings. still, love those cfpa blue-blazed trails!

above yawbux brook

the first half of this hike is along said blue-blazed narragansett trail and follows yawbux brook pretty closely through this stretch. In fact, it crosses the brook, re-crosses it, and crosses it again. lotta brook crossings and no bridges. you just have to hope the stepping stones aren’t ice covered.

beaver pond

the trail skirts close to the shore of a huge beaver pond, and had to be re-routed at one point because of it. some very recent beaver activity just below the dam has actually blocked the trail in a couple of places, but fortunately the blue blazes are pretty easy to spot, so you can do some climbing and circumnavigating and easily get back to it.

cellar hole

the spot where this hike leaves the narragansett trail and picks up old woods roads to loop back to the starting point can be a bit tricky to find. it’s at about the 2.1 mile mark, just after a yawbux brook crossing on 4 big stepping stones. the narragansett trail takes a left turn very shortly afterward, marked by arrows on a tree. if you go straight instead, you’ll quickly pick up the woods road. and not far from there you see this absolutely grand old cellar hole. it’s huge and 3-sided. i’m guessing it was a barn.

i have edited the entry for this hike in the hikefinder. trailhead, trail map

Categories: Connecticut, Walks and Hikes
Tags: 2–5 miles, CT, North Stonington CT