Starting at Breakneck Hill Rd in Jewett City (approach from Stone Hill Road as the other end has a gate across it) and ending at the Pachuag State Forest on Plainfield Pike in Plainfield, CT ~ 8.4 miles and 4 hrs
We had a little bit of a rough start finding parking for this trail. We followed the gps coordinates on the CFPA map, but unfortunately that took us to the southern entrance of Breakneck Hill Rd and there is a gate across the road so we had to navigate up and around to find our way to the parking. Based on the map we could see that the parking was not available at the end of the trail so we headed down the road to the Nehantic Trail to pick up the Quinebaug from what looked like the actual start. Once we got there though we learned that it was just a connector trail and the actual start was just before the parking on Breakneck Hill. So not a big deal, but that added an unnecessary .66 of a mile to the hike.
We were really glad to have done this trail when we did. The freezing cold temps helped us navigate it without issue. It is reported to have flooding (it did), poison ivy (it did), biting bugs (not yet), and snakes (hibernating — hallelujah). The trail flooding was not so bad and still passable, and the mud was relatively frozen except for a few areas.
The Quinebaug is pretty flat. It starts off with a small hill and I think there were maybe two others. It passes through a lot of small brooks, marshes and ponds including Hell Hollow Pond. The terrain is mixed from rocky, to forest floors, to dirt roads. A brief section is solid rock and leads to a lookout point.
The trees along the way were tall and old. A lot of the trees are in rough shape and there were broken and twisted sections everywhere. (See the video to hear some creaking). We were grateful that we didn’t have a windy day.
We saw a lot of cool ice formations and did encounter flooding. I had read one hiker’s blog that said the flooding was impassable and he had to turn back and return another day. Fortunately for us there were ways to get around it.
Some highlights along the way:
- Usnea: the winds from yesterday’s storm knocked down a ton of usnea from the trees. I needed a new piece for my terrarium, so it was a great find.
- Princess Pines: were everywhere and were pretty tall. There is a small field full of them which seemed to be the first time for any of us to see that many together.
- Rocks: there were some rock formations, one that looked like a giant piece of toast, many stone walls and very conveniently placed rocks across the streams. Many of the rocks had quartz streaks through them and some looked to be granite.
- The Grinch: tell me the old tree covered in moss doesn’t look just like him.
Overall, this was a pretty trail, but based on other reviews, I’m pretty sure this is a “one and done” trail for me.
Adventurers included: Jes, Dana & Bryan