198 Purgatory Road, Sutton, MA – Various trails, we only did 3 miles of them ~ 2 hrs.

I was told about this place by a coworker who lives in Massachusetts. It is definitely a cool place to explore and I am glad that we did, but word-to-the-wise: from May 14 through October 30, the parking fee for non-residents is $20. We didn’t get to do all of the trails today (too hot), so we’ll have to come back some time off season.

We parked at the parking lot by the visitor center and the Chasm Loop trail was up on our left. From the second we approached the chasm it was a rock lover’s dream. There are all sorts of boulders of varying sizes, and some with quartz veins jutting out. The trails are all easy, and this is a great place to take younger adventurers.

We started down the center of the chasm, but quickly discovered that Savannah was not ready for it. She found a cave like crevice to sit in and wasn’t willing to budge any further. Fortunately, we were able to take the left hand side of the loop up and around. This section is on top of the chasm and has several places to peer down. Since it was flatter, it gave Savannah time to get her bearings. We followed this down to a boardwalk that led us to to the Little Purgatory loop.

This section of the trail was a little more wooded and the rocks were definitely easier for Savannah. She was loving every moment. We followed Little Purgatory to the end and looped back and took Charley’s Loop back to the beginning of the chasm. Charley’s Loop is also on top of the chasm and has great places to peer down.

Now that Savannah was warmed up, we tried taking the center of the chasm again . I was feeling pretty positive that she would now be up to it, but don’t you know… she stopped in the exact same crevice and refused to budge. Mike had me scout ahead to see if it would quickly flatten out and see if it was worth it for her to continue. I did, and saw that it did and was completely worth it. So we found another way around and with a little assistance, (okay a full a lift), she made it!

We continued down the chasm back to the boardwalk and looped back to the left to finish the Chasm Loop Trail. Due to the high heat and humidity, we called the hike at this point and headed back to the parking lot. Overall this was a great hike and it was definitely wonderful to see Savannah be a rock star on the trails!

(Personal note: I returned my La Sportiva Ultra Raptor II Mid GTX Hiking Boots after this hike. They are an amazing boot with fantastic traction, but my feet were so sore after. I realized they were not right for my foot. I traded them in for a more rugged La Sportiva Nucleo High II GTX Boot, so it will be interesting to see how they do.)

Adventurers included: Jes, Mike, and Savannah