Posted By auntie on May 21, 2014

4.57 miles; griswold, ct

if you’re at all like me, you simply cannot continually pass a trail head without needing to see what’s there. i can’t count the number of times i passed this sign.

sign

it’s at the intersection of routes 138 and 201 in voluntown. i finally decided to satisfy my curiosity on tuesday afternoon.

native columbine

i knew right away i was going to like this stretch of the pachaug trail. firstly, unlike almost the whole rest of this trail, this part hadn’t been destroyed by motorized vehicles like dirt bikes and atvs. it was simply a lovely footpath. and secondly, it was teeming with wildflowers, although that’s probably just the season. this is wild columbine, aquilegia canadensis. very common but very showy. i saw it in the first few steps on the trail.

pink corydalis or rock harlequin

a few more steps and i saw this beauty… true to one of its common names, it was growing on top of a boulder in a tiny pocket of soil. it reminded me of domestic bleeding heart, but it was more delicate.

dam

this huge and impressive-looking dam is at the intersection of the pachaug and nehantic trails. it’s truly massive, and the first thought that comes to mind is that there must be one heck of a body of water on the other side…

the other side

well, maybe there was, once. but not anymore. perhaps the dam breached somewhere, or perhaps the streams feeding it were diverted. whatever. in any case, there’s not much there today.

future blueberries

the blueberries were blooming, too. i must remember to come back when they ripen… if the birds leave me any.

wildlife

saw this little guy on my way back. i think it’s a northern leopard frog, but i am not an expert, by any means, on frog i.d.

i have added this hike to the hikefinder.

Categories: CFPA Trails, Connecticut, Walks and Hikes
Tags: 2–5 miles, CT, Griswold CT