Hike #18: Broad Hill Road Area of McLean Game Refuge - Granby, CT

Date Hiked:  Saturday, April 9, 2016
Estimated distance round-trip: 5.79 miles
Weather: 40°F, partly cloudy
Resources: CT Waterfalls, New England Waterfalls, McLean Game Refuge Trail Map
Highlights of the trip: Waterfalls, remains of old homesteads
Progress toward 2016 hiking goals:  18/52 hikes; 63.01/250 miles; 8/25 miles on Tunxis Trail


Fantastic hike!  Today I decided to explore the Broad Hill Road area of McLean Game Refuge, including sections of Weed Hill and Old Beech Road.  Whenever I hike in the Refuge, I give a little word of thanks to Senator McLean.  And today I found that I also need to thank the Messenger, Reynold, Caruso, Collamore, and Carpenter families, who have given land to expand the Refuge.  What a tremendous gift you have all given!

I parked on Broad Hill Road in the small parking area (3 cars) near the gate.  The road beyond the gate is not paved and there is a sign indicating that it is not maintained in winter.  I have not been here when the gate is open, so I don't know if it ever is.

The kiosk is a Little Free Library.

I climbed up past the Granby Land Trust's Diamond Ledges and Petersen Preserves on the right, and trails into Holcomb Farm's Western trails on the left.  At around 0.7 miles (total guess), Weed Hill Road goes off to the left on a bridge over Beach Brook.  An unmarked trail leads down to Carpenter Falls.  (From the bridge you can see a large plaque on one of the rocks in the stream with the name Carpenter Falls on it).  The falls were absolutely spectacular!  How did I not know about them?

Carpenter Falls

Carpenter Falls

After viewing the falls, I continued on Weed Hill Road.  This road is lined with old stone walls and wolf trees.  There are also a couple of old cellar holes that I find just fascinating.  Why did they get abandoned?

Circular foundation near a regular rectangular one.  An old silo?

Old well.

Maybe the stone to the right of my hiking poles used to cover the well.

An area of daffodils in the woods.

I eventually came to the "end" of the road.  Not really.  I am guessing it is the start of the Weed Hill trail in McLean Game Refuge.  When Steve Wood of CTMQ posted about it (page alomost to the bottom), there were a couple of old couches out here around the fire pit.  The couches are gone (if I have the location correct), but there are a few old springs adorning a tree.

The end of Weed Hill Road for me, but the start of Weed Hill Trail in McLean Game Refuge.

Old couch springs?

 I turned around and headed back down the hill to the intersection with Broad Hill Road.

Heading back to Broad Hill Road.

Turning left and continuing on Broad Hill, I soon came to an area with a couple of cabins on the left and a man-made pond on the right.  This is marked on the McLean map as private property, so I just kept to the road.  I could see a great blue heron standing in the pond and was able to get a reasonable picture from my vantage point.

Great Blue Heron.

Where Broad Hill Road takes a sharp right to head over toward Route 219, Old Beech Road (marked as abandoned on the map), continues straight.  A new trail, called Pine Cone Trail, has been created that follows this old road.  Pine Cone Trail is blazed black.  It is listed with the other trails on the McLean Game Refuge map, but it is not actually indicated on the map. 

The start of Pine Cone Trail.

As I walked along Pine Cone Trail, I could hear water from Beach Brook rushing to my left (funny how it is Old "Beech" Road, but "Beach" Brook).  I eventually came to another sign for Pine Cone Trail, but it seemed a little misplaced.   The sign is to the right of the trail and points left, as if you were to continue on going straight.  However, the black blazes go into the woods and seem to end rather abruptly (two horizontal blazes indicates the end of trail, so I did not look any further).  If you look at the McLean map you will see the trail takes a sharp right here and should continue on to the top of Pine Cone Mountain. 

The left arrow makes no sense to me.

 I chose to keep going straight, which took me out of the Game Refuge and into Enders State Forest.

View of trail that continues straight into Enders.

I continued up this trail for a little bit and then decided to call it quits.  I would like to try it again another day.  It looks like the trail will take you pretty close to a stream that flows into the falls.

Where I called it quits and turned around.

On the way back down the Pine Cone Trail, I just had to investigate the sound of rushing water from Beach Brook.  I am glad I did.  Another fantastic waterfall!

Mystery waterfall - I'll call it Old Beech Waterfall.

Another view of Old Beech Waterfall.

There may be more waterfalls downstream, but I decided to call it a day and head back to the car.  This was an absolutely fantastic hike!  I am just amazed at how much land there is to explore here.  Thanks to all those who made it available to the public.