Hike #40: White Memorial Foundation - Litchfield, CT

Date Hiked: Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Estimated distance: 6.26 miles
Weather: 70°F, clear and sunny
Resources: White Memorial Foundation Trails
Highlights of the trip:  boardwalk, wildlife
Progress toward 2016 hiking goals:  40/52 hikes; 150.98/250 miles; 31.37/25 miles on Tunxis Trail


I have lived in CT for over 30 years now (good grief!) and had never been to White Memorial Foundation in Litchfield.  My hiking partner and I decided to remedy that today.

Using the book, AMC's Best Day Hikes in Connecticut, and a map printed from the White Memorial Foundation website, I plotted our route.  This was not an easy task.  I, quite literally, needed a magnifying glass to read the minuscule print on the map.  But, I persevered and came up with a plan to hike by Mallard Marsh and around Little Pond.  Our first stop when we got to White Memorial was to stop in the museum and buy a larger scale version of the map for $3.  Now I have it for future reference.

There are lots of criss-crossing trails here and it is easy to get confused (at least we thought so).  Many of the trails are marked with colored symbols like a red triangle, for example.  The map is not directly labeled with the symbol, but with a letter that you then have to look up and find out what the colored symbol is.  It wasn't difficult, just a little annoying because it meant flipping the map from side to side to find the key.

Near Mallard Marsh

Yum.  High bush blueberries in abundance!

We made our way over to Little Pond which is encircled by a boardwalk.  Building that boardwalk was an ambitious project, and we really appreciate the work that went into it and what it requires to maintain.

View from the bridge on the boardwalk.

Looking back on bridge.

Monarch on jewelweed.

Buttonbush

Looking south across the pond.

We returned to the museum area and then took the Lake Trail down to the viewing platform on Bantam Lake.  The Ice House Ruins Trail is also in this area, and we could see the concrete supports from the conveyor that had been in operation during the ice harvesting in the early 20th Century.

North Bay of Bantam Lake and conveyor supports.

Canal used in ice operation.

White Memorial Foundation was well worth the drive.  I feel like we covered a lot of ground, but there are a few more trails that might be worth trying.  A visit in the fall could be spectacular.