Tangled Up in Blue

Pachaug Trail Part 1

Starting at the Pachaug State Forest parking on Green Falls Rd in Voluntown and ending at the parking on Shetucket Tpke also in Voluntown, CT ~ 10.92 miles & 5 hrs and 5 mins

The Pachaug Trail is a great trail found mostly in the Pachaug Forest. It is mixed terrain consisting of woodland, rocks, streams, and marshier areas. There is a small road walk around Beach Pond that briefly puts you in Rhode Island. The trail is relatively flat with a few notable inclines, and overall a really fun trail. It’s probably best to avoid this section during mud season, and I can only imagine how buggy it must be in the summer, as the bugs were already out big time.

There are fantastically large rocks formations on this trail with a good amount having quartz and smoky quartz veins jutting out of them. We encountered two sections that offered two blue blazed paths. One took you across the top of the rocks and one invited you to go down, through, and around the rocks. Mike and I took the low road and Dana and Bryan took the high road. I think the lower trails were the more adventurous way.

Notables on this section:

  • A section of trail not made for tall people. The Mountain Laurel canopies over the trail forcing Mike and I to duck to make it through.
  • Mushrooms including chicken of the woods.
  • Wildflowers and plants including bluets, violets, blueberries, wintergreen, lady slippers, starflowers, moss, and mountain laurel
  • Ant hills — more like ant mountains.
  • A mailbox in the middle of the woods with a journal to log into.
  • Lookout points on Beach Pond. One rock was so inviting we took a small break to soak up the serenity and rehydrate and fuel.
  • An awesome tree which toppled over. Its roots were in the air and instead of dying it grew a new tree (not branch) straight up out of its side.
  • A gigantic rat snake next to the trail- fortunately I did not see him and only Mike and Bryan did. By the serious way Mike ordered us to move I assumed it was a snake and hurried out of the section.

Overall it is a really pretty and fun trail and I look forward to finishing this trail sometime soon.

Adventurers included: Jes, Dana, Bryan, Mike and Dogo