Starting at The James L Goodwin Conservation Center, 23 Potter Rd, Hampton and ending at 38-98 General Lyon Rd, Eastford, CT ~ 10.8 miles -5 hours.

This section of the state is so pretty. Anyone familiar with the Nipmuck Trail will think they are on it again. The Natchaug actually ends at the Nipmuck, so that makes perfect sense.

“Natchaug is a Nipmuc word meaning “land between the rivers” and refers to the land that lies between Bigelow Brook and the Still River, which join in Eastford to form the Natchaug River.” (Thanks Wikipedia.)

This trail was so beautiful. From the giant hemlocks and elms to young mountain laurels, ponds and bogs and of course the cascading falls — everything was just serene. The trail is primarily flat. There is one lookout point and a couple of small but steady hills, but nothing of difficulty.

It had snowed overnight and and through out most of the day. The snow actually worked to our benefit in several icy sections, but it also masked what we were walking on and let’s face it: it is never a good feeling to hear the ground (ice) crack underneath you. None of us were wearing spikes so a few spills happened, but nothing that did damage. There are lots of stream (river?) crossings that do not have foot bridges, and we needed to cross by hopping from rock to the rock. Since there was a few inches of snow on each rock, that was a little nerve wracking, but fortunately no one tumbled. I am looking forward to finishing this trail in a couple of weeks, and returning to it in the future.

Adventurers included: Jes, Dana & Bryan