Birchbank Trail 2.0

This is what a part of Birchbank Trail looked like a year ago, thanks to rampant ATVs. It was not fun to walk up. The trail was too far gone to repair, so a quarter-mile reroute was in order.

Now the trail goes up a completely different way and has a view of Upper White Hills Brook.



Two other reroutes were done as well. The upper stream crossing was moved slightly, and a new stretch of trail was added below the chimney following the stream all the way down to the floodplain. It's beautiful!

Here's a new section of trail down near the bottom. The neighborhood has actually been walking up here for years. We just dressed it up and made it official.

The water flows over the bedrock in a series of waterfalls and chutes. Very scenic.


A bit further up the hill on this new stretch of trail, the path rises above a small gorge.

And then you're at the old chimney (see the waterfall in the background?)

Today I decide to scout out another possible trail route -- a connector from the Paugussett Trail overlook to Birchbank Trail. Following the Paugussett Trail south from its intersection with Birchbank Trail, the trail first goes down and then up up up, letting you know if you're overweight.

This sign marks the blue/yellow dot side trail up to the overlook. It's very steep and the leaves made for an arduous trek up.

So here's our view. Partly obstructed, and in the summer you probably can't see much. The trees blocking the view are mostly very tall and located way down the slope. Still, it's a neat spot. Just wish it wasn't so hard to get to. I started exploring the possibility of bushwacking to the north to see if there might be another possible route.

Going down the shoulder of the hilltop a bit, I found there was still an overlook, but one that could be trimmed back more easily for a better view because it drops off more sharply to the south. And from there, it was an easy walk north down to Birchbank Trail. Not too rocky or steep or wet. I see a new trail in our future :). This route is shown in yellow on the map below (generated from my gps).