Woodsend Trail Completed

Approaching the Tangerine Squeezer 

Add another mile to our trail inventory, because the new orange-blazed Woodsend Trail is finished. This is located in Housatonic Woods Preserve above Indian Well.  Sure, there are a couple problem spots that need improvement, but that's true of most trails.  The trail map is now posted on the Conservation Commission's webpage (sheltonconservation.org).  Our Trails Day hike will mark the formal grand opening on the first Saturday in June (see the events link in the menu for more info.). This will be a two-mile lollipop loop hike. 

The new trail was cut during the back half of winter so that we could better see the terrain and work around all the wet spots you get that time of year. Also, no wasp attacks. So it's fun to walk the completed project and see everything green up and come to life along the trail for the first time. 

Take a virtual tour of the lollipop loop in early spring. There's lots of variation on this hike, from open woodlands, to cliffs, to overgrown pastureland filled with dense shrubs. We'll start at the junction of Woodsend Ave and Cynthia Drive (gps address is 50 Woodsend Ave.) Follow the orange trail markings past the guardrail and head gradually down the hill. You're above Route 110 and will get some road noise. 

The hillside below Woodsend Avenue

Eventually the trail levels out and joins an old road used by charcoal-makers back in the day, then climbs modestly to a plateau with seasonal views of the Housatonic River. There's a circular mound surrounded by a ditch marking the spot where colliers made charcoal from logging the surrounding trees. In the center of the mound are bits of charcoal. An info sheet was tacked to a tree nearby with a sketch showing what the area would have looked like. 

Charcoal mound site

The charcoal plateau has seasonal views of the river

This trail is moderately difficult and therefore not for everyone. It's mostly not that bad, however. There are hills to go up, brooks without bridges, and uneven footing. A walking stick or trekking pole may help. There is really only one spot that gives some people pause, especially those with shorter legs, and that's the Tangerine Squeezer. You have to squeeze between a large tree and some ledge, with the ground dropping off steeply on the back side of the tree. It's actually not as bad as it first looks; you just need to know where to put your feet. Most people find it fun, especially after they pass through it and find it's not as bad as they thought. 

Tangerine Squeezer

Once through the Tangerine Squeezer, you are in The Passageway through a series of cliffs that rise up above Indian Well and Route 110. To the left, the cliffs drop down to Route 110 and there are more seasonal views of the river. To the right, the cliffs rise up the backside of Cynthia Lane, although you cannot see the houses. Upon exiting The Passageway, the trail switchbacks down the hillside and crosses a shallow brook that descends a boulderfield. We creatively call it Boulder Brook. 

The switchback coming down out of The Passageway

This area took a LOT of work. Multiple work parties with crews of teenagers helping to dig and move boulders.  The end result was better than expected when the route was first flagged. 

Coming up on Boulder Brook

There are a lot of invasive plants throughout Housatonic Woods Preserve, including acres and acres of Japanese Barberry, Burning Bush, and Bittersweet. But if you arrive at Boulder Brook in early spring, you may see some Dutchman's Breeches or Trillium. 

Trillium and Wild Leeks

Woodsend Trail comes to a junction with the Woodsend Connector, blazed blue/orange) shortly after crossing Boulder Brook. This is 0.5 mile from the beginning. This is where the one-mile loop begins.  Continue straight, following the orange blazes. (If you were to go left onto the connector trail, you would quickly arrive at the Paugussett Trail near Rt 110 and could cross the highway and enter Indian Well State Park). 

Junction with the Woodsend Connector Trail (blue/orange)

The trail now heads gradually but relentlessly up the hill away from Route 110, leaving the road noise behind you. Near the top of the hill, the landscape looks much different than the open woods you were walking through previously. This land is an overgrown pasture infested with invasive plants. Japanese Barberry is a thorny shrub that livestock will not eat, so it tends to invade pasturelands and then really take off when the pasture is abandoned. The trees are younger and smaller here, and under assault by Bittersweet vines large enough to require a chainsaw to cut. 

Heading through the Barberry section, an old pasture

The trail brushes the backside of Sinsabaugh Heights, then comes to a "T" with the blue-blazed Paugussett Trail. From here, you could follow the blue blazes right to Shelton Lakes and Buddington Road, or left all the way to Birchbank Mountain or Webb Mountain Park in Monroe and beyond. For this lollipop loop, we'll go left down the hill for just under half a mile. 

Paugussett Trail

The blue blazes descend the hill gradually as the trail heads towards Indian Well State Park. There are seasonal views of the Housatonic Valley, along with the houses on Housatonic Rise. In the summer the trail feels more private. The woods become more open as you descend, although there are still many invasive plants in through here. 

Paugussett Trail

Keep an eye out for the junction with the blue/orange connector trail on the left and take that when you get to it. (If you miss it, you'll come to Route 110). Follow the blue/orange blazes across the hillside just 0.1 mile back to the junction with Woodsend Trail. 

Blue/orange Woodsend Connector Trail

When you get back to the orange-blazed Woodsend Trail, you've completed the loop portion of this hike. Take a right and head back across Boulder Brook, The Passageway, Tangerine Squeezer, and past Charcoal Plateau. Climb the hill back to the parking area. This last climb may feel like the hardest!