Starting at 167-185 Buddington Rd, Shelton and ending at 151-199 Okenuck Way, Shelton, CT ~9.28 miles and 4 hrs 9 mins.
The Paugussett Trail is a really pretty trail passing through the town of Shelton. The trail is mixed terrain: forest floor, overgrown grass, rocks, some paved road, and a combination of wooden plank bridges and rock bridges to cross over streams and swampy sections. The trail walks the banks of the Shelton Reservoir and gives a few look out points with views of the Housatonic River.
The Paugussett Trail leads to Eklund Garden. This would definitely be worth visiting again when more is blooming. There were all kinds of cool plants including swamp azalea, phlox, and prickly pear.
The entire trail is covered in wildflowers including the now blooming Mountain Laurel! One of the wild flowers we found, (that I was most excited about), is called Yellow Flag. It is a beautiful yellow iris. Apparently it is an invasive water species, and of course now that I have seen it — I saw it in another swampy location a few days later, but this was my first time actually taking a mental note of it. Other wildflowers included:
- Bird’s Foot Trefoil
- Meadow Anemone
- Crownvetch
- Partridge Berry
- Blue-eyed Grass
- Poison Ivy! Lots and lots of Poison Ivy!
The trail leads into Indian Well State Park. It is important to note here that although you start off on the trail to the waterfall, the blue trail quickly leads you away from it and you will not see it. The waterfall is worth seeing so take the time to explore it before continuing. (I have been here before but we will come back when we finish this trail to see it as a group.)
There were many serene sections on this trail. It is an easy but typical blue trail. Typical meaning just as you may feel tired, a notable incline will appear. You know the ones that make your calves or bums burn? I seem to remember one of those around mile 5 and then another around mile 8. Out side of the calf-burning inclines the Paugussett is a relatively flat trail though. There is one noted rock scramble, but it was not difficult at all, and I don’t recall any of us having to use more than our feet to navigate it.
In addition to being cautious of the poison ivy, we did have to look out for wildlife. We encountered a snake and a bobcat on the trail. The snake fortunately was preoccupied with swallowing a frog so he didn’t want anything to do with us. Dana kindly an gently moved him off the trail so he wouldn’t be so exposed and I could safely pass. The bobcat also wanted nothing to do with us. He quickly darted away from us toward a stonewall. He took just a few moments to study us before going the other way. He was a pretty big boy, so I am glad he made that decision.
Adventurers included: Jes, Dana, Bryan and Dogo