2017 Hike #22: Horse Guard State Park and Found Land Recreation Area - Avon, CT

Date Hiked: Thursday, June 22, 2017
Estimated distance:  2.60 miles (1.11 miles Horse Guard SP, 1.49 Found Land)
Weather: 80°F, scattered clouds
Resources: Horse Guard State Park, OpenStreetMap, Found Land Trail Map
Highlights of the trip:  the view at Horse Guard SP
Progress toward 2017 Outdoor Goals:  22/52 hikes; 76.27/250 miles hiked


Last fall I read an article in the Hartford Courant by Peter Marteka about Horse Guard State Park in Avon, one of the "Other" state parks.  "Other" parks are the ones that, when you visit the DEEP website, are included in a long list of parks and forests with little information and no trail maps.  I think these parks tend to be ignored because of the lack of information.  Do not ignore this one.  For relatively little effort, the payoff is very good.

I parked at the Avon Historical Society's Derrin House, a little over a mile south of Route 44 on Route 167.  There is a trail sign at the edge of the lawn, and I took that as the location of the trail head.  Was it?  Maybe I missed another access point, because I was soon pushing through bushes and kicking myself for not having sprayed more than just my pant-legs with bug spray.

It looks like their might have been a loop trail, but David Reik's information on OpenStreetMap indicates much of it is a bushwhack.

I soon spotted the white blazes and was on my way.  Well, not for very long.  I passed a large tree trunk across the trail because I could see white blazes beyond it.  Right after the tree, the blazes indicated a right turn over a jumble of logs that I thought was there because the ground was wet.  I made my way across, but the trail didn't seem very well maintained.  Hmm.  Went back, found some white blazes that went to the left, but again the trail seemed very poorly maintained.  Let's start again.  I went back to the other side of the downed tree and easily spotted the trail leading off to the right.  I had not seen any blazes indicating a turn before the tree, but maybe I missed them.

I did not see a nest.  Not sure of the type of bird.

I continued to follow the trail through the forest and back and forth across areas with improvised log "bridges" put down to help navigate wet areas.  The hiking poles were definitely helpful in keeping my balance over the logs.  I came to a more open area and, off to my right, I could make out a talus slope through the trees.  I knew this is the area I wanted to climb to get the view.

Talus slope through the trees.

Hemlock Varnish Shelf

Talus slope.

There are no blazes up the talus slope, so you just have to pick your way.  I wound my way up to the top and kept following the trail until I came to an area that had a fire pit.  I went a little beyond that and out to a rock ledge with nearly 180 degree views to the west.  The panoramic shot spans that distance and includes Taine Mountain (southwest) to the left and Mount Horr (north-northwest) to the right.

There were quite a few wildflowers at the summit including Pink Corydalis, Spreading Dogbane, Blueberry, Rose (Virginia or Carolina, not sure which), and Venus's Looking Glass.

I thought this was in the Heath family, like blueberry, but nothing seems to match.  Could it be Spreading dogbane?

Blueberries.

Rose

Venus's Looking Glass.

I headed back and took in the view to the south.  This was the money shot as far as I was concerned.  The mountain with the radio towers is Rattlesnake Mountain, and to the right is West Peak, part of the Hanging Hills of Meriden.  Pretty spectacular.

When I got down near the parking area, I decided to take a shot of the "trail".  You can make out the red-sided Derrin house through  the foliage and that is basically where I had to cut through to get to my car.

The hike in Horse Guard State Park was only a little over a mile, so I had scouted ahead for another short hike to do while I was in Avon.  The town has some open space with trails, so I decided to give Found Land Recreation Area a try.  I parked in the cul-de-sac at the end of Saint Michael's Court where the sign is located.  There is a kiosk as you first enter, but there didn't appear to be a map on it.

I went in a clock-wise direction following the yellow blazes.  Then I came to a spot with a trail that went off to the left and there was a red blaze on a tree to my right.  Hmm.  I decided to go to the left a little way, just to see and noticed more red blazes and what looked to be boundary marker posts.  I got to the top of a small rise and saw another cul-de-sac.  I crossed the road and had a magnificent view of the Heublein Tower over on the Metacomet Ridge.

Heublein Tower on Metacomet Ridge in the distance.

I turned back around and went back to the trail intersection.  A red trail (not on the map) seemed to go off to my left.  I decided to go straight as I came back down from the road and saw the yellow blazes again.  I turned again and came to the remains of a stone wall.  Now I saw yellow blazes on my right and red ones on my left.  I decided these red blazes were marking the property rather than indicating a trail.  I came to other trail crossings and became more confused.  I knew there was a cutoff trail, and I purposely went by a trail (that I think was blazed yellow) because I thought that was the cutoff.  I reached a turn in the trail and assumed I had come to the place where the yellow trail starts heading back.  Now I am not so sure, because the outer loop was supposed to be over two miles and I ended up only covering about 1.5 miles.  Humph.  In the end, I didn't care.  It was hot and buggy, and while this is probably an okay place for walking your dog if you live in one of the really fancy houses in the neighborhood, it didn't have much to recommend it for other hikers.  Still, I am glad I checked it out.

I have no idea how this old Jeep made it down the trail and on to its roof.

So, check out Horse Guard State Park, but if you are looking for more mileage to add to that, Found Land is a bit of a let down.