Old Furnace State Park, Killingly, CT
Old Furnace State Park is located in Killingly near Rhode Island. This is a great park for hiking, biking, and fishing. Exploring new areas is always fun, even if you get lost on the trails. Check out the blog to make sure you stay on the trails!
Scrolling through the list of the 2018 Sky’s Limit Hiking Challenge in Connecticut, I wanted to explore unknown parts of the state that would be new to me. I haven’t spent much time in the Windham County area, neighboring Rhode Island. I really had no idea where I was going and there was not too much info on the park online. But, I convinced my girlfriend to drive over an hour with a promise of beers and off we went.
Old Furnace State Park is located in Killingly, CT. You will find the park entrance off Route 6 via Route 395. Ross Pond State Park is fairly close so my GPS took me there instead. If yours does the same, just keep going past that until you can take a left onto South Frontage Road and the park will be there on your left. The blue-blazed trail of this park runs about 3 miles. This particular hiking challenge calls for 2 miles round trip until you reach the overlook from the cliffs at 200 feet over Half Hill Pond. With this view you get a great look of valley stretching into Rhode Island.
We finally found the parking lot and noticed there was mountain biking event going on. Apparently, this is a big mountain biking trail. I didn’t expect to see anyone. The hiking trail starts at the parking lot. I used the trail located at ct.gov here . The path instantaneously takes you into the woods.
As we began, we crossed a small brook that led us to crossing a small footbridge.
The trail was fairly wide open until we reached an unmarked section ducking through a brush of bushes. We found ourselves questioning our direction. Eventually, a blue marker did appear.
From here the ascent started to get steep. About a mile into the hike, we saw the path break into two. Unfortunately, we kept going straight and that was not correct and saw some brown marked trails.
Thus, we circled back and took the path to the left which was the ridge along the pond. And, finally we found ourselves at the cliffs overlooking Half Hill Pond. The pond was completely filled with water lilies.
We stopped here because the trail was pretty buggy and I didn’t think the rest of the trail would offer much. But if you want to continue, this will lead you down to the parking lot and boat ramp at Ross Pond to Squaw Rock Road where you turn around and come back. If you are not from the area, the directions to the park could be difficult and the trail itself has areas that should be marked better. The hike itself was not hard. I would rate it easy. I would bring bug spray and pay very close attention for the blue markers. Looks like a good area to fish and maybe kayak as well. I’m sure this is a nice spot for locals but one time is probably enough for me.
The Review
Old Furnace State Park, Blue Trail, Killingly, CT (~2m): 2.5 out of 5.
HIKING FOR DONUTS
A blog for the outdoors foodie enthusiast
Hi, I’m Mark. I live in Connecticut. I take new trips every chance I get. A good trip has a great hike, great food, and something fun to do. My goal is to search out new trips and share them to inspire others to try something new and exciting.
If you are looking for posts in a particular place, search by city or state here.
EXPLORE OTHER POSTS IN THE ARCHIVE
RECOMMENDED POSTS
MOST RECENT POSTS
See where I have been recently on Instagram. Follow @HIKINGFORDONUTS
Honky Tonk Hiking in Nashville, TN!
Spent the long labor day weekend hiking in Nashville, TN! Aside from bars, music & food, I was able to enjoy some great outdoor activities. Got a hike in and explored a lake. Nashville hikes.
It has been a busy month….and a very busy summer. The last trip on my agenda for the summer was Nashville, TN. I have never been there before and I hear lots of great things. My girlfriend, Nichole, has been there 4 times now. She was tasked with showing me the ropes. Aside from the food and the bars, we made time for some outdoors activities and adventuring. I did some research found some cool parks nearby such as The Warner Parks. We decided to rent a car for the day and made our trek ready to sweat off the beers, biscuits, and hot chicken.
We stayed in downtown Nashville and made the 20 minute drive to Edwin Warner Park first. Here is where we started with a nice refreshing hike. The weather held up for us and was perfect. The park was easy to get to and there is ample parking. There is a nature center for water and bathrooms also.
We decided to take the Harpeth Woods Trail, which was roughly a 2.5 mile loop. There are three trailheads in Edwin Warner Park which access the trail: Owl Hollow, Natchez Trace Trailhead, or the Nature Center Trailhead. We walked further down from the Nature Center and started at the Natchez Trace Trailhead. The Harpeth Woods Trail is the blue trail. The trail is very well marked, all we needed to do is follow the blue arrows. Please note, this is a very popular park. We were there on Labor Day but there isn’t a lot of options in the metro Nashville area.
This particular hike was a typical woodsy trail. No scenic views but a good hike. There were some cool rocks formations and bridges to cross. There was a small part of the hike that was a nice incline but that was maybe 1/10 of a mile. In my opinion, this was an easy hike based on my abilities. I wore Nike training shoes and have a bum ankle still. However, I can see this being moderate for others. I did my best to take unique pics.
After the hike, we decided to venture to Percy Warner Park as well since it was only a mile away. At this location, there is a cool landmark known as the Percy Warner Park Stairs. This gives you a nice burn going up and a view from the top from where the trail heads start.
The last stop was Radnor Lake. This location was only 20 minutes from the Warner Parks. Since we had the rental car, we figured we would try to get in as much as possible. This area was very, very busy and parking was an issue. There are two parking entrances. One lot was completely full. However, it is was a really nice ride to both entrances. We got to see pretty nice houses and scenic views. Nichole even questioned some houses, "I wonder if someone famous lives here." Once we got a parking space, we just quickly perused the lake and went on the bridge to see some views. It’s cool for the area and I understand the traffic. This sums up our labor day in Nashville. I didn’t anticipate getting this much outdoors in so close to the city.
HIKING FOR DONUTS
A blog for the outdoors foodie enthusiast
Hi, I’m Mark. I live in Connecticut. I take new trips every chance I get. A good trip has a great hike, great food, and something fun to do. My goal is to search out new trips and share them to inspire others to try something new and exciting.
If you are looking for posts in a particular place, search by city or state here.
EXPLORE OTHER POSTS IN THE ARCHIVE
RECOMMENDED POSTS
MOST RECENT POSTS
See where I have been recently on Instagram. Follow @HIKINGFORDONUTS