2024 Year in Exploration

[su_spoiler title=”January” open=”no” style=”fancy”]

• Windsor Center Trail – Quick morning loop on New Years Day
• Angelo Sferrazza Memorial Park – Quick hike on the out and back with the CT River running swift
• Upper Three Mile River Preserve – Great loop hike with rugged terrain, dense mountain laurel, and clear swift waters
• Sellew Preserve – The outer loop offers wooded views, rushing brook water, and access to the Air Line Trail
• Pocotopaug Preserve – very short well-traveled loop near the lake
• Upper Pine Brook Preserve – Steep descent in the brook valley looping past the ruins (of an old paper mill?) [/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler title=”February” open=”no” style=”fancy”]

• Church Farm – Rexplored the property to visit the new (to me) blue access trail and reacquaint myself with the rugged loop
• William Jezek Memorial Preserve – Short rooty trails down to a view of the Moodus Reservoir
• Sabine Reserve – Winding trail loops along an abandoned road with old foundations and history
• PeGus’s Path Preserve – First hike, parking was a bit awkward, climbed the ridge and back
• Roaring Brook Reserve –
• Miller Farm Preserve – Just a plain loop in the snow
• Batz Property – Was pleasantly surprised by this loop hike in the snow
• Mattabesett East Terminus – First hike of this end of the trail, bit snowy and wet but hiked 80% out and back [/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler title=”March” open=”no” style=”fancy”]

• Fenton Ruby Park – Hiked through a couple of the trails, really enjoyed the adirondack chairs on the first sunny day in a long time
• Blue Flag Meadow – Rehiked this loop after remembering Teale doesn’t allow dogs
• Tower Hill Preserve – First hike since making the movie last year, the waterfall was flowing good
• Bradley Buchanan Woods – Rains and beaver activity have flooded key trails here
• Torrey Preserve – First hike since my full tour of the JT properties, still a simple short loop off the Nipmuck
• Banningwood Preserve – Well selected trail loop with history, geology and viewpoints
• Honey Hill Preserve – Short woods loop through glacial till
• Saunders Preserve – Surprised at how well established these new trails are
• River to Ridgetop North – Two visits to this property, long hike options, overlooks galore
• Natchaug State Forest – Rehiked the CCC loop and loved it, they’ve expanded/rerouted the trail since my last hike
• Hemphill Woods – First hike here in about 7 years, lots of freshly fallen trees and wet trail but a nice loop hike [/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler title=”April” open=”no” style=”fancy”]

• Cockaponset State Forest – Hiked the length of the blue blaze Cockaponset Trail and then worked back on the rest of the trails
• Raymond Brook Preserve – Hiked in from a different parking area for a change of pace
• Woodtick Recreation Area – Rehiked this popular flat walking path around Scoville Reservoir
• Whitestone Cliffs Trail – This hike as everything you could want overlook, waterfall, and great hiking in one short loop
• Five Mile Rock – Short hike to this out of the way historical landmark
• Merrow Preserve – Figure eight double loop that doesn’t see much hiking but gets down to Lake Hayward Brook
• Urbanik Reserve – Hiked the double loop and sat in the adirondack chairs next to the pond on a beautiful spring day
• Lena Reserve – First hike and was surprised to find newly expanded green and purple trails [/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler title=”May” open=”no” style=”fancy”]

• Nayantaquit Trail – First hike here in a couple years, this section of the Nehantic State Forest is being actively managed so there were a few large clear cuts slightly disrupting the trail
• Potter Meadow – This hike was foiled by flooding in both directions on this short loop trail
• Wolf Rock – This section of the Nipmuck trail has a new slight reroute from eroded old wood steps to well placed stone steps
• Mahoney Pond – Hiked this short trail and found fresh forest management before taking another crack at searching for Devil’s Den
• Lillinonah Trail – First hike of this rugged blue blaze loop, great rock features and surprisingly challenging
• Pootatuck State Forest – Hiked out the fantastic overlook and then down into Squantz Pond State Park to see the impressive Council Rock [/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler title=”June” open=”no” style=”fancy”]

• Nipmuck: Boston Hollow – Had some elements added that make it feel like someone’s grief trail? Still love the rugged loop
• Hollister Preserve – Last hiked when I made the movie, still a gem of an overlook
• Sheep Farm – First hike, did the shorter loop here and was surprised to find a waterfall
• Atkinson Preserve – First hike of the trails here and branched out into Nathan Lester to see the remains of the Ledyard Oak
• Stickney Hill – Just outside the heart of Rockville, this trail seems like it should be popular with locals but isn’t
• Adams Mill Trail – Despite seeing some complaints of a vaguely sketchy area, I thought this was a fantastic hike and have high praise for the Hockanum River volunteers who built this trail
• New State Trail – First hike, continued explorations of the varied Hockanum Trail, this one feels unique but I’m not sure why[/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler title=”July” open=”no” style=”fancy”]

• • Friedman Forest – Did the standard loop on a sticky July day
  • Mt Misery and the Rhododendron Sanctuary – Sky’s the Limit, the sanctuary is always a crowd pleaser and the misery overlook was better than I remembered
  • Giddings Park – The ninja warrior course is a bit more weathered but still fun
  • Natchaug State Forest – Just looking for a good loop on a sunny afternoon before wading in the river
  • Iron Mine Valley – Last hike here was 8 years ago! Finally explored the trail across Boston Hollow Brook
  • Hidden Valley Farm Preserve – First hike, ruins of a mill hide at the center of this hidden valley, nice water views too
  • Moodus Forest – First hike, an out and back on this trail cobbled from three properties
  • Golet Farm Preserve – First hike, short loop options that feel more like an ATV racetrack[/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler title=”August” open=”no” style=”fancy”]

• • Bailey’s Ravine – I’ll mention every time how no two hikes have ever been the same here
  • Sprague Land Preserve – Revisited green and blue for an afternoon hike
  • Devils’ Hopyard – Explored the red trail for the first time despite the rain
  • Hayward Reserve – A newish lasso loop trail that’s just darn pleasant
  • Dorwart Preserve – Newfound enjoyment on this trail, much better than I remember
  • Peoples State Forest – Hit Indian Shelter caves for Sky’s the Limit and then over to the Lighthouse and lookout, fantastic hiking abounds here
  • Massacoe: Great Pond – First hike, explored the popular loop here for Sky’s the Limit, interesting to see all the birds in the pond
  • Laidlaw Recreation Area – First hike, simple short town park loop, that recently received some TLC
  • Weigold and Auperin and Tobiassen Forest – W & A were new to me but Tobiassen was last hiked eight years ago, loved the mossy rock features
  • Chenes Roches Preserve – My third Joshua’s trust property that I hadn’t hiked since 2016, explored the new dense mountain laurel ridge trail [/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler title=”September” open=”no” style=”fancy”]

• • Couch Preserve and Williams Preserve – First hike here since Williams opened in 2018, trails have become established, a new blue trail has been added, and the viewpoint at the river has been cleared

[/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler title=”October” open=”no” style=”fancy”] [/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler title=”November” open=”no” style=”fancy”] [/su_spoiler]

[su_spoiler title=”December” open=”no” style=”fancy”] [/su_spoiler]