McCann Family Farm

From the parking area the trail starts on an easement through private property so please be respectful.  A short downhill leads to a nearly 300′ boardwalk next to a farm field before crossing over clear and cold Gulf Stream.  Once over the bridge you’re in the preserve property on the yellow/blue blazed trail which quickly forks either up into the fields or along the ridge of the wetlands.  I chose to head right, along the wetlands.  The narrow but well traveled trail follows the bank up into the woods until reaching another bridge over Shady Brook.

Here the trail forks again finally splitting into the yellow blazed Jerry Stage Trail and the blue blazed Shady Brook Trail.

The blue blazed Shady Brook Trail is the shorter, completing this loop is about 2 miles back to the parking area.  The trail briefly follows Shady Brook before cutting up amidst rock layers and through a stonewall before descending back to the brook.  The trail then takes a hard left turn back to the combined yellow/blue back to the parking area.

The yellow blazed Jerry Stage Trail is a rugged with a fair amount of elevation change and winding trails that completes the loop in about 3 miles.  The trail climbs along a view of lower farm fields to work back and forth along the hills at the backside of the property.

McCann Family Farm can also be combined with Whitaker Woods for longer hikes as seen in the trail map above with two options connecting to the orange loop.  The two combine for over nearly 8 miles of trails and can connect even farther to the Shenipsit State Forest and Soapstone Mountain.