Posted By auntie on October 28, 2016

3.4 miles; Cromwell, CT

I had to visit to a store out in this direction, so I took the opportunity to also visit a small state park I’d read about in the “A-Z of Connecticut State Parks” blog (see my Blog Roll). I have to say, it was very much exactly as described. I loved the river views, and the CT DEEP map was not especially helpful, as there were a lot of blazes that weren’t depicted. Lot of single random-colored blazes just sprinkled here and there, too. Still, nice spot.

Red and Happy-Face Blazed Trail

I parked at the southern end of the red-blazed trail on Nooks Hill Road. Well, not exactly ON the road… This trailhead had no place to park and additionally was really hard to find. I had to drive by it 3 times before I saw the spot, squeezed in between two driveways. I ended up parking around 2/10s of a mile away on a side road and did a bit of road-walking to get to it. I could, of course, have gone to the park’s actual official entrance, but I wouldn’t have hiked the red trail had I done that.

I kind of got the impression that some group, and I’m guessing mountain bikers, have taken over the trail maintenance and blazing here. It makes for some very confused hiking. At one point I found myself going in circles while following the red blazes. Were they meant to be dots to indicate a spur trail? Your guess is as good as mine.

River View

I finally managed to complete the red trail and had to guess that the next trail I tried was the white-blazed trail. The blazes didn’t start to appear for quite some time. Then, after spending a frustratingly large amount of time wandering the oddly-blazed blue trails, and yes, there are multiple blue trails—some blazed orange-and-blue, some blazed white-and-blue, some just regular blue—I found my way back to the white-blazed trail where it runs along a very high bluff overlooking the Connecticut River. I love the Connecticut River, and I loved this trail!

Sideways Tree

I was fascinated by this tree that was growing sideways out of the bluff. I wondered if anyone had ever tried walking along it. It would be a pretty daredevil type stunt!

Hikes with Bathrooms

As the white trail takes a sharp turn to the right away from the river and the bluffs, there was a very steep unblazed downward-trending trail. There were, in fact, two of them, both very deeply eroded. I chose the less scary-looking of the two and ever so carefully picked my way down, where I came to the “River Campground.” It’s a 2-site canoe camp for folks canoeing or kayaking the Connecticut River (there was no dock.) And lo and behold, a nicely maintained outhouse with paper and everything. I do so love me some hikes with bathrooms.

Connecticut River Shoreline

After having spent so much time walking high above the river, the canoe camp gave me a chance to view the river from water level. It’s still amazing. So wide!

Yellow Trail

From the canoe camp I took the yellow-blazed trail back to the red trail. The yellow trail is lovely—it runs through a deep valley between high hills, and it feels very remote and secluded. In theory, this trail hooks back up with the white trail, but I didn’t really trust it, so when my gps track indicated that I was very close to the red trail, I bushwhacked. It was only a few steps, really.

Ultimately, I wouldn’t make a special trip to hike here, but if you should find yourself in the area anyway, I highly recommend it. You can find the (mostly useless) trail map at the CT DEEP website.

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