Nipmuck State Forest
Heading to Nipmuck State Forest in the far North East corner of the State, we were hit with a definite sense of deja vu. Nipmuck shares an entrance and car park with Bigelow Hollow State Park, and is the more rugged, less developed big brother of the more accessible Bigelow Hollow. Housing the northern terminus of the 35 mile long blue blazed Nipmuck Trail, it is one of a small number of State parks that abuts the Massachusetts State Line. There's no easy short loop hikes in the Park, but the most popular route, and the one we took on our trip, was the loop of 6 miles or so around Breakneck Pond. Named after the steep shores that surround the pond on all sides, the relative isolation from motor vehicles makes this a quiet spot, until you come across the illegal ATV idiots on the western shores. Nipmuck lies within the town of Union, which boats the privilege of being the smallest town in CT. The second oldest State Forest, it was originally established in 1905, but has grown in size as the state acquires surrounding lands. It's worth noting that Google maps puts it in completely the wrong place, on the opposite side of I84, so it's better to get the travel instructions from the DEEP website. The section google marks is another block of the same Forest called the Bear Den, but there are no marked trails there. Another note is that if you come here in the humid depths of summer, you will need a metric ton of bugspray. I trail ran here last July, and have never returned with so many black and blue lumps on my arms as I did that day. This time, in early May, there were a few irritating small black flies, but nothing of the biting variety. There's a choice of a few trails from the various parking lots on the entrance road, and we chose a short jaunt on the white to join the blue blazed Nipmuck Trail. As with most blue blazed trails, this is a well established winding single track, running through a mixture of mature deciduous woods and more recent coniferous plantings. It's not particularly spectacular, but cool and calm on one of the first warm days of the year. We took the blue trail from the south end of Breakneck Pond along the eastern shore, and here things get a little more interesting. There's glacial erratics, serene pond views, and small cascading streams that join the pond shores. If you fancy spending the night, there's even a pretty new camping shelter, but you'll need to bring your own water and be prepared for some wild bathroom trips. At the northern end of the pond the trail nudges briefly into Massachusetts, before pivoting south and heading back to CT. Just after the pivot south is the outflow from the pond, which you'll need a good bit of balance or some shoes you don't mind getting wet to cross. From here we took Cat Rocks road south, which is a larger less technical trail a little further back from the Pond edge. Cat Rocks are a number of large rocks that used to be home to wildcats, last confirmed in the area in 1980. There's a series of caves and hiding holes below the rocks, which we somehow completely failed to spot when we walked past them. I guess it was too close to stopping for lunch! The western shore of Breakneck Pond has many little pockets of water and small woody promontories, so you should be able to find and uninhabited spot for a bit of down time. These also provide good land access for canoeists, who were having an easy day drifting in the shallows the day we visited. There's a couple of viewpoints higher up the side of the pond, but as soon as the leaves come out these will be rather typical Connecticut forest views - trees and more trees! The trail at the very south end on this shore gets very rocky, and occasionally pops under water, you'll need to have your scrambling shoes on. At the south end there is another fine camping shelter, and a gravel road to deliver you back to the car park. If you're a trail runner, Nipmuck is a glorious collection of technical and easier trails, and could easily last you a good marathon training run when combined with Bigelow Hollow Trails. For the walker, it's a serene spot, without the tougher height gains found in the north west corner. Bring a picnic, and enjoy the best of the Quiet Corner of CT.
