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| Hiking | 9.73 Miles |
1,343 AEG |
| | Hiking | 9.73 Miles | 4 Hrs 47 Mns | | 2.15 mph |
| 1,343 ft AEG | 16 Mns Break | 10 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | The Metacomet Trail runs from Route 15 in Berlin, CT north to the Massachusetts Border. The New England National Scenic Trail follows it in this part of Connecticut. I will be doing sections of the Metacomet this spring and summer. This log is for the section from the Plainville Reservoir (Crescent Lake) in Southington north to Route 6 in Farmington. After I hike the whole thing, I'll complete a guide.
There is good parking and an outhouse at Crescent Lake – Sunset Rock State Park on Shuttle Meadow Road in Southington. From the parking lot, there is a connector headed east to the Metacomet Trail, but I followed the lakeshore, and met up with the connector near the southeast corner of the lake. Follow the connector steeply up an old road, and where it levels off, intersect the blue-blazed Metacomet Trail. Turn left to head north.
There were loads of mosquitoes near the lake, but also lots of birds. I identified by sound the American Redstart, Red-eyed Vireo, Ovenbird, White-breasted nuthatch, Blue Jay, and Red-bellied Woodpecker in the first hour of my hike.
Early on, the Metacomet comes out on an outcrop overlooking the lake at a nice picture spot. Soon after, the Blue-blazed trail takes a sharp and unmarked left turn. Although the trail is very well marked, sometimes intersections are not clearly marked. If you don’t see a blue-blaze in 100 yards of walking, you have probably missed a turn. There is a clearly marked junction where the trail was re-routed in 2009. The old route continues with red-blue blazes. Follow my gps track to stay on the current route.
The trail works its way northeast across Sunset Rock State Park. Eventually it comes out on Woodford Ave at the intersection with Esther Street. From here, you have a 1.2 mile road walk to the next section. There is parking along Esther Street. Follow Woodford Avenue east to Wooster Street, then north to CT-372, West Main Street which becomes New Britain Avenue. Turn left on 372 and hike about 0.8 mile to the northbound trailhead, across from 440 New Britain Avenue, where you might consider parking.
Leaving New Britain Avenue, the trail climbs steeply through a couple of different geologic strata, and then levels out for a while, before working its way gently up. Along the way, the views start to open up. At 1.6 miles from the road, not much remains of an old Nike Missile Base. At 1.8 miles, the trail tops out on Pinnacle Rock at 591’. This appears to be a popular place for rock climbing and rappelling.
Heading north off of Pinnacle Rock, the trail drops steeply, eventually descending sharply into a ravine containing some power lines. On the other side of the power lines, the trail climbs steeply again, right up against Rattlesnake Cliffs, 2.8 miles from the road. At the top of the cliffs is a very popular view point and a trail register. About 0.1 mile further is a jumble of boulders containing “Will Warren’s Den,” a cave claimed to be occupied by an antisocial gentlemen in the middle 19th century at 41° 41.94′ N, 72° 49.956′. The opening is extremely small; I didn’t go in, but the cave is said to be quite large.
From the cave on down to Route 6, about 1.2 miles, the trail gets better maintained and easier walking, and much more popular. At the parking lot on Route 6, there were at least 9 cars on a weekday afternoon. |
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