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Letterboxing Northeast Local Letterboxes VII
Rose Hill Note: "Wildlife Management Area" is a euphemism
for Hunting Zone. These areas are not safe for letterboxing during hunting
season from Monday through Saturday. We do not recommend letterboxing here
even on Sundays during the hunting season. This is not a multi-use area
and hunters are not welcoming of hikers, bikers, birders, or boxers during
their season. Here is a single letterbox on a pleasant upland hike on the Pequot Trail in the Rose Hill Wildlife Management Area in Ledyard CT. Several other letterboxes are quite close by. Typical of many of Connecticut's Wildlife Management Areas, Rose Hill was once a working farm and is laced with old fieldstone walls and "nooning trees," giants that were left standing for a shady place to lunch and nap on a summer's day. These three or four hundred acre open spaces were made possible by the fees and foresight of the conservationists in the hunting community. Wear a blaze orange sweatshirt from September to May. Directions: From I-395 take Exit 79A and head east across the Thames River on CT Rte. 2A past the Mohegan Indian Reservation. At the traffic light, zigzag left and right with 2A and follow it along scenic Poquetanuck Cove. Bear right on Rte. 117 South at a beautiful white church, just before Rte. 2A cuts left at a traffic light. Just after an intersection, at the Ledyard town line, turn left into the Preston Community Park and park near the ball fields. Difficulty: An easy 2 miles out-and-back up a gentle grade: about 60 minutes. The Hike: From the parking area, walk around the fields on the track and pick up the blue-blazed Pequot Trail behind the flagpole and amphitheater stage on the east-southeast edge of the park. Follow the trail right (south-southwest) into dense White Pine and walk gently uphill to Rose Hill Rd at an old farmhouse. Zigzag left right with the blue blazes across the road and follow the path south-southwest along the property line behind the house and barns. After an abandoned cinderblock barn, pass an enormous White Oak on the right. Follow the trail generally south for about a mile, gently rising along the way. Cross several seasonal brooks and a wetland, passing through a transitional forest zone of American Beech and Chestnut, to finally turn southeast and climb to the top of Rose Hill, with the sound of traffic below on Shewville Rd to your right. At the highest point, turn right (southwest) and beat a short way off trail to a stone wall. Follow it a short way left (southeast) to a "T" intersection with another wall and hop over. The Rose Hill Letterbox is in the southwest corner of this stony junction. If you'd like, bushwhack a short way farther down to the southwest edge of the drop off and limited views across to more farmland. If you miss the letterbox, you'll know you've gone too far on the Pequot Trail if you pass through a well-made stone wall and come upon an actively farmed field. After stamping in, simply return the way you came. There are several interconnecting, unmarked trails that are worth exploring if you're in the mood.
Whimsy Walk Three letterboxes on an easy 1/2 mile hike in the tiny, jewel-like Watch Rock Nature Preserve in Old Lyme, CT. Bring the children and a painted rock! From I-95 take exit 70 (and if southbound, follow the 156 signs past a shopping center and turn left to pass back under the freeway), and follow CT Rte. 156 East 1.4 miles. After crossing over the railroad tracks, turn right on unmarked Noyes Rd, then immediately right again on Caukins. At the end, go left-right onto Joel Rd and into the parking area. Hike into the preserve and explore.
Watch Rock Letterbox
Pine bench Letterbox
Northwest Point Letterbox Dedicated with love to MPf Please don't forget Butterfly's Whimsy Cairn letterbox!
River Walk (Currently missing)
A single letterbox overlooking Gardner Lake in Salem, CT on a very easy 1/2 mile walk. Bring the kids, a fishing pole, and a bathing suit. From the intersection of CT Rte. 354 and 82, head east on 82 for 0.5 miles and turnleft onto Doyle Rd. Turn left again after 0.6 miles onto Cottage Ln and find the Hopemead State Park entrance on your left in 0.7 miles. Follow the wide trail west through intricate old stonewall-lined paddocks. Just as the trail bends right and downhill towards the lake, turn left (south) into an overgrown walled-in field. Bushwhack to the large wall and pass through the wide opening. Turning right, west, walk down to the southwest corner and find the Lake Shore Letterbox in the wall. Be sure to explore the point overlooking the lake after stamping in.
If the devil had a den, a quiet place to read and relax far from his maddening minions, it might be a place like this. Not spectacular or awe-inspiring, but tranquil, satisfying, and cool with shade and the sound of running water. Here is a single letterbox on a moderately difficult 4 mile loop around Hell Hollow on the Quinebaug Trail in Sterling, CT. There are no flames or spells here, but it is a good place to remember your bug spray. Directions: in scenic Sterling CT, on Rte. 49 between Routes 14A and 138, turn west on Hell Hollow Rd to find Hell Hollow Pond on your right. Park in the fisherman's lot on the far side of the pond. This hike will follow a clockwise loop in the woods above the pond. On foot or mountain bike, continue westerly up the road to the top of a small hill, and turn right (north) through the gate and onto the blue-blazed Quinebaug Trail. This is a generally wide forest road that beelines northward for about 2 miles until it intersects dirt-surfaced Flat Rock Rd. Turn right, east-southeast, with the blazes and follow the trail over slickrock and ledge, with views to the south. Leaving the ledges behind, walk downhill, and, about 1/2 mile from the previous right turn intersection, find a jumble of rocks on the right with a seasonal brook tumbling under the road and through the rocks. Cut right, south, on a faint path and explore the water in the nooks and crannies. Spot another jumble to the southeast and cross over the brook to climb up and look for treasure on the highest point. Devil's Den is overgrown now, but there are lots more interesting little jumbles of rock to explore if you're in the mood. Then continue along the blue-blazed road a couple hundred yards to a "Y" intersection and turn right, east-southeast on the yellow-blazed Pachaug Connector Trail. Watch for it to jog right into the woods, turning into a pleasant singletrack footpath that will bring you south and downhill to seasonal views through trees of Hell Hollow Pond. Watch for the yellow trail to zig left and connect with the blue-blazed Pachaug Trail. Turn right and continue southwards, this time following blue. (If you miss this ziggy intersection, the yellow blazes will disappear and you'll find yourself down close by the pond: just continue on southwards with the pond to your right. It gets a little boggy, but the trail swoops back uphill to rejoin the blue trail heading south after several hundred yards). Pass through an evergreen forest and rejoin paved Hell Hollow Rd. Turn right, west, a short way to your car on the pond.
Note: "Wildlife Management Area" is a euphemism for Hunting
Zone. These areas are not safe for letterboxing during hunting season
from Monday through Saturday. We do not recommend letterboxing here even
on Sundays during the hunting season. This is not a multi-use area and
hunters are not welcoming of hikers, bikers, birders, or boxers during
their season. On this hill in the final days of colonialism in America, on an all-but-forgotten night, patriots burned a tar barrel to signal the coming of the British. Now Jeremy Hill is the site of the obscure and rarely visited, but still marvelous, Assekonk Wildlife Management Area. This single letterbox is on an easy 2 mile, 90 minute hike, with more off-trail hiking than usual, following an out-and-back course on a pleasant woods road with a teardrop shaped, off-trail loop around a pine grove at the bottom. The Assekonk Swamp is revered by the birding community for its rich wetland habitat. Hunting is also popular here: wear your blaze orange from October to May, or come on a Sunday, the hunter's day of rest. And don't forget your bug spray! Directions: In North Stonington CT, take exit 92 from I-95 and follow CT Rte. 2 West. At the rotary, turn onto Rte. 184 West and travel 1.8 miles. Turn right into the third driveway after the town-line sign, marked with #825 on the mailbox, pass a beautiful colonial-era farmhouse on the left and then bear right onto a forest road. A hundred yards down the road, park in the small grassy spot on the right just before the refuge's gate. Walk through the gate and follow the road north, passing another grassy parking area and going through another gate. Follow this graceful old farm road, with walls and stately silver maple on either hand, gently downhill for about a mile to its end at Assekonk Swamp. A few steps farther northeast on a faint track will bring you to a stone wall and the wetlands. Turn left and follow the wall on a faint track generally northwest to a shady stand of evergreen on the left. We'll make a counter-clockwise loop around the perimeter of this one-acre pine grove: continuing northwest, skirt between the forest on the left and the swampy wall on the right. A short bit along, watch for old barbed wire, pass through, and turn left to head south-southwest uphill on a faint trail in the trees, paralleling a different stone wall 50 feet off to the right. At the top, another wall intersects the way: turn right and follow the path of least resistance west-southwest to a three-way wall intersection. The Tar Barrel Hill Letterbox is in the western end of that intersecting wall, just behind a big twin oak. Please re-hide it well: hunters are not likely to appreciate the intrusion if they find it by accident. Now return to the last intersection and follow the wall east-northeast and downhill to the park road. The last few yards are a little brushy, but easily doable. Turn right and return.
Father's Day Flowers Rhododendron bursts into pom poms of colorful flower in mid-June in Connecticut, and the Pachaug Forest in Voluntown is a great place to enjoy the show. From the intersection of CT Routes 138, 165, and 49, head north on Rte. 49 to find the main Pachaug Forest entrance on your left. Follow the park road in past pine forests to a large open grassy area marked as the Mount Misery Area and park by the Rhododendron Preserve. This is an easy, level, handicapped accessable hike over about 1/2 mile. Hike into the Preserve on the wide, groomed trail, enjoying a wonderful wetland area with lots of ferns and slowly moving, tannin-dark waters in season. Just before stepping onto an extensive boardwalk, there is a slight bit of "high" ground to protect our letterbox on your left. Take a step or two off-trail to reach behind the mossy tulip tree for your Father's Day reward.
(Vandalized, Lost, History....Gone Missing) |
