southern new england loop trails?

[1azarus]

i'm looking for weekend/long weekend getaway loop trails, the closer to hartford CT the better -- ideally within 2 hours drive... probably including southern VT, western MA, eastern NY, western CT and northern NJ. anywhere from 20 to 60 miles of hiking. i've gotten very tired of the whole shuttle/hitchhike thing. am i dreaming?

[Monkeywrench]

You can make a few different loops using the South Taconic trail and the AT in southwest Massachusetts and northwest Connecticut. In southern Vermont you can do various combinations of the LT/AT, the Stratton Pond Trail, the Lye Brook Trail, the Branch Pond Trail, and a bit of walking on the dirt Stratton Arlington Road. In north-central Massachusetts there is the Tully Trail.

[tdoczi]

mohawk trail (former route of AT) a little further south in CT. also along the kittatiny ridge in NJ you can work out a pretty decent loop though it would likely involve repeating short sections of the AT in both directions to link them up to the length youre looking for. also harriman state park in NY.

[1azarus]

thanks. the south taconic trail looks promising... seems like around 11 AT miles from jug end road south to bear mountain, then with some meandering on side trails, looks like I could make it around a 30 mile loop back up toward catamount ski area. Is there a way to get from Catamount/Mt Fray back down to the road so I can complete the loop with a little bit of road walk? Is this a fun walk to do?

[tdoczi]

thanks. the south taconic trail looks promising... seems like around 11 AT miles from jug end road south to bear mountain, then with some meandering on side trails, looks like I could make it around a 30 mile loop back up toward catamount ski area. Is there a way to get from Catamount/Mt Fray back down to the road so I can complete the loop with a little bit of road walk? Is this a fun walk to do?

ive never done it, but the maps i have show both the AT and the other trail (always forget its exact name, as there are 2 very similarly named trails in the area) touching jug end road, which would seem to be an easy walk.

i also recall a thread around here about how to bushwhack between the 2 trails.

[1azarus]

oh my. the Mohawk trail in CT with a section of the AT vaults to the top of the list!!! anybody walk that loop? thanks, Tdoczi

[Driver8]

Lots of good loops can be constructed from Greylock Reservation Trails. Not sure, but you could possibly also construct a loop involving some western trails in that reservation and Taconic Crest Trail system trails, the A.T. and walking through Williamstown. Do you have the Mass AMC guide? Likewise, refer to it and you could assemble a very nice loop with some figure 8s and some repeated segments combining the Mt. Tom and Holyoke Ranges, which are beautiful - you're probably been up and seen parts or all of those areas.

Mohawk Trail would be a great loop, that's a nice suggestion. I'd think the roadwalk on 23 from Catamount area at least until you get off 23 for Jug End Road would be dangerous b/c narrow and winding with fast traffic. Better to whack through the woods if you can.

[Migrating Bird]

Tough country to walk "through" the woods, the laurel is so thick in spots you have to crawl though it and it's steep. Pull up a google map of the area. I have been messing around the SST for quite a while. Up high it is the oak that gets you. There is a nice trail and short bushwack from the east side of Jug End parking lot up the valley to the AT. If you follow the stream up Jug End there is an awesome head wall at the end of the valley (kind of like a mini hooper on Greylock). It is very hard to get from the SST to Jug End as the northern terminus of the SST is NW of Jug End which is N of where the AT turns east down to Jug End Rd. Much of the area is posted. The SST crosses Sunset Rock Rd. (dirt) in NY. Turning east on SRR will get you to the State Park land near the old potato barn (big field with low stone shed) on Mt Washington Rd, but getting from there as the crow flies to the AT is one rugged section, much like the AT as it ascends south bound from Jug End Rd. but with no trail. The SST does pass a camp whose access would get you close to the Jug End Parking lot but I have not trespassed to see how close. Here is an interesting link to Jug End Barn Ski Area http://www.nelsap.org/ma/jugend.html

[Monkeywrench]

mohawk trail (former route of AT)...

Of course! Damn, why didn't I think of that?! That seems like a perfect 3-day hike this time of year. Now all I gotta do is finagle 3 days off in a row...

Anyone have the Mohawk Trail map from the CT Walk Book and would be willing to scan it for me?

[Snowleopard]

Someone on Views from the top (vftt.org) posted details of a bushwhack from Jug End on the AT to the South Taconic Trail. I think there may be a short section where legal access is questionable. There are connections between the South Taconic Trail and the AT at the south end in the vicinity of Bear Mt and Sage's Ravine. http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthrea...-Taconic-Trail

[Tinker]

Here: http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail...lid=HGN039-009

I have a book with this hike in it, but haven't done it. The book is called Fifty hikes in Vermont by the Green Mountain Club. Excellent book.

[hikerboy57]

Of course! Damn, why didn't I think of that?! That seems like a perfect 3-day hike this time of year. Now all I gotta do is finagle 3 days off in a row...

Anyone have the Mohawk Trail map from the CT Walk Book and would be willing to scan it for me?

https://www.google.com/search?q=moha...w=1440&bih=672

[1azarus]

https://www.google.com/search?q=moha...w=1440&bih=672

...Not only am I willing to scan them for you (I want to scan them myself, anyway...) I'm going to post the maps on Maprika so anyone can use them. They are GPS syncronized on maprika (free, by the way). I was going to go do that hike the beginning of november, but was just offered a free ride from the long trail inn to manchester center! i'll let you know when the maps are available.

[1azarus]

ok all. i've posted the Mohawk trail overview map and map #1 on maprika. i've got to get back to work now... will get to the others in the next few days, i promise. let me know what you think of the maps when you get a chance.

[tdoczi]

ok all. i've posted the Mohawk trail overview map and map #1 on maprika. i've got to get back to work now... will get to the others in the next few days, i promise. let me know what you think of the maps when you get a chance.

i would be surprised if this didnt seriously violate copyright law somehow.

[1azarus]

i would be surprised if this didnt seriously violate copyright law somehow.

good point! I did discuss that very question with the app creators. their preference is for people to use free maps, whose creators would actually like to see them spread around for free -- like ski areas. a lot of maps fall into that catagory. The CT Walkbook maps, I will agree, do seem to be a bit of a different matter. They are sold -- and are sold to make money to support good things. Soooooooooooo, last time I ran into a CT trail maintainer/board member I turned myself in -- gave him my name, showed him Maprika, and told him I was chipping away at putting Walkbook maps on the Maprika site. He didn't seem overly upset, and I never heard back from them. The Maprika people would certainly remove any map at the first suggestion of annoyance. I did also walk into the Rangers office at Sleeping Giant State Park to turn myself in, for similar reasons. The ranger I spoke to wanted his own access to Maprika, and seemed genuinely delighted. I guess this makes me an anarchist. oh well.

[1azarus]

ummm. does that mean you liked the maps?

[Monkeywrench]

ok all. i've posted the Mohawk trail overview map and map #1 on maprika. i've got to get back to work now... will get to the others in the next few days, i promise. let me know what you think of the maps when you get a chance.

I couldn't find it there. The only "Mohawk" map is the Mohawk Ski Area.

[1azarus]

sorry -- i should have mentioned it sometimes takes them a few days to release new maps. try again in a bit. you should see other maps from the CT walkbook -- metacomet, metabasset, waterbury area trails...

[KMACK]

Lazarus, let us know if you choose to do this trip and how you liked it. A friend of mine has been asking to do this for a couple of years now.