Mono Pond State Park

Trails start on the yellow blazed just-under-a-mile loop with shoreline access for fishing and views of the water. 

The red trail is mainly an out and back for 0.7 miles before a small turnaround loop back.  The trails weren’t great for wildlife viewing, but they were great for wildlife listening.  The plop of turtles dropping back into the water after sunning themselves, deer crashing off into the underbrush, and the slap of a beaver’s tail.  Despite hugging the shoreline, the growth along the water’s edge distorts potential viewpoints.  Trails here were expanded in the last 10 years by an eagle scout from Columbia’s Troop 162.  The eagle scout is likely the one who put in the Discovery Trail markers, though many of the markers and the guide to what they represent are missing (it should be laid out on the back of the parking lot kiosk).

There is a white blazed trail at the southern end of the pond that can only be accessed from the cul-de-sac at the end of Lake Ridge Dr (2 Bears Den Way for GPS).  This area is known as Island Woods. The white trail is a half-mile loop that is an uneventful forested walk.

Looking forward, recent purchases by the towns of Columbia and Lebanon in 2020-2021 have added 1,000+ acres of open space that will expand the park and is now close to creating a connection to the Air Line Trail.