Auperin and John H. Weigold Conservation Areas
28.1 acres in Tolland, CT
Parking: Small lot down the dirt driveway near 244 Weigold Road Tolland, CT
Trail Map Trails: 1.1 miles Rating: ★★☆☆☆
The Weigold Conservation Area has 0.8 miles of blue blazed trail. The Auperin Conservation Area can only be reached by a 0.3 mile red blazed trail off the Weigold Conservation Area. When these are combined with the Joshua’s Trust Tobiassen Forest, there are a couple miles of trails. It is a mixed woodland and wetland area.
From the town’s site,
“The property is heavily forested with primarily oak, beech, and birch. Along the southern border, it has a permanent brook and a ledge rising 70 feet above the brook forming one wall of a gorge. On the western border, a vernal pool exists. Coldwater fish, wildlife, and a host of different bird species prosper along the brook, vernal pool, and swamp, and up onto the rocky ledges and upper tree canopy. The property drains to the Skungamaug River.”
Hiking
The trails here are a great short loop through ferns, over rocky hills, and between mossy boulders.
I hiked up the start of the blue trail, some kind of former woods road. I hopped onto the Auperin red trail crossing a stone wall and taking narrow rocky trail uphill. The trail is winding and climbs to a spot with twin benches on top of twin ledge boulders before winding again to the top of the blue trail. If you take a right uphill you’ll connect into the Tobiassen Forest.
The blue Weigold loop starts across the trail a bit to the left. Much rockier, it climbs a boulder strewn hill with a bench on a flat spot near the top before descending again (with another access point to the Tobiassen Forest) to an unnamed stream. The trail follows the stream downhill before curving back towards the main center trail.
History:
Weigold was established as a park in 2002 while Auperin was purchased from the Auperin family in 2008.
Links:
CTMQ – JT: Tobiassen Memorial Forest, Auperin, & Weigold Conservation Areas (2021)
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