Quandoc Conservation Area

I started off on the yellow trail to the left of the trailhead kiosk, but switched to the new orange trail at its crossing point just over small feeder stream for Quandoc Brook.  The orange trail then follows this stream for a bit before turning uphill.  While beautiful I’d imagine some would find the footing tricky crossing and recrossing the brook here and it likely can be pretty buggy in spring. I was amazed at the stonewalls crossing even this area.

Leaving the stream heads uphill into pine forest and passes a standout quartz boulder which looks like a pile of snow alongside the trail.  The trail also very briefly joins an old carriage road buttressed by rocks on the low side, I wonder what it connected or if it was just an old farm road.

After nearly summiting whatever hill you’ve been climbing the trail descends the otherside to a boggy area lush and resplendent with ferns. I unfortunately missed the ‘Heart Tree’ indicated on the map despite trying to keep a careful eye.

The rest of the orange trail meanders over a series of hills before working back to join the backside of the yellow loop.  I intended to take the outer portion to catch a glimpse of the pond/marsh area but somehow ended up on the inner side of the loop.  The trail descends through rocky terrain and I scared off a number of deer.  Shortly after a nearby bobcat scream nearly scared me off.

The lower end of the yellow trail comes out on a gravel road and confused me for a bit which direction I should take to get back to the parking.  It was nearly sunset so blazes were harder to make out and there appear to be a couple unblazed trails coming off area but thankfully I was able to follow the gravel road back to the parking area.