You Are Here: Beaver Brook Association

We had terrible weather yesterday, so I took the opportunity to begin de-Christmassing my house.. one of my least favorite things to do :( Sunday was clear and I was ready to get back out on the trails. I'm on limited time on Sunday's for the moment, so when deciding where to go I had to factor time as well as conditions. I didn't really want to break trail, so I kept the elevation low and flat, and south where we got little to no snow.. back to Beaver Brook I went. This time to start tackling the southern trail network. There are a lot of trails on the southern side of Beaver Brook, and it was a little overwhelming trying to come up with a way of not having to double over too many places. I parked at the Brown Barn on Brown Lane where several trails begin, and headed out on a loop-de-loop of a couple different areas. I began on Love Lane Trail which basically is a Class VI road that connects Brown Lane to Love Lane, I then took Howe Meadow Trail to Ridge Road, back to Howe Kibby Connector and onto Kibbys Climb back to the car. I found the trails pretty much bare. There was some standing water, dampness, ice in some places, but all easily avoidable. I was able to make good time and enjoyed the trails. Much like the northern side, there isn't really anything to see, just the serenity of being out in the woods on a well maintained network. I really liked Kibbys Climb, it ascended a little baby ridge which was narrowish, it was fun being able to see down both sides while cruising across the top. This brought me back to the car and I actually had to layer down. While it was brisk and windy, I couldn't feel the wind amongst the trees and got too hot. From here I headed for Red Pine Trail, but ended up on Brown Lane Trail. I hadn't realized Red Pine Trail started in the middle of the woods. I reached Cow Lane and turned onto Campsite Trail. Red Pine Trail met up with Campsite Trail, so I was able to do an out and back to complete that. It was a steep little incline, but very short. Many of these trails are all 0.5 mile or less, so out and backs aren't too bad. There is a cabin and huge firepit at the end of Campsite Trail. I went back to the intersection with Brown Lane Trail and continued straight on Cow Lane. This was probably the area I encountered the most ice, but it was still easily avoidable. I turned onto Maple Leaf Trail, then Leatherwood Trail, which was the prettiest trail of the day. It followed a brook with a little cascade area, where I surprisingly found 2 chairs that one could sit and enjoy the waterfalls on! Back on Cow Lane and I doubled back this time taking the Self Guided Nature Trail, which climbed up a short, steep incline back to the Brown Barn. I took Brown Lane Trail again back to Cow Lane and this time followed the second half of the Self Guided Nature Trail, which crisscrosses Cow Lane several times. There are many little numbered plaques, which correspond to a separate guide/map of a variety of species of plants. Being Winter, everything was hibernating for now. I'm sure in the Spring/Summer, it's a pretty trail to follow and explore if you're into that kind of thing. This was also the only trail I had some trouble following. In some areas the blazes are sparse and the footbed wasn't always obvious. I used the little numbered plaques when needed to keep me on track. Once back on Cow Lane, I followed it to Wigwam Trail and took that back to Teepee Trail. Did a couple of very short out and backs to fill in some blanks where I had missed earlier along the way, ending up in an open field and back at the Brown Barn. I called it a day here, although I could have kept going. I was happy with the progress I made starting out on this side of the park and look forward to coming back and exploring more! One note, if you're planning on hiking here, I would highly recommend having a paper map with you and potentially an online app with map as well. I primarily used the paper map, but confirmed I was where I thought I was on the Peakbagger app. This particular area has trails all over the place and it can get very confusing where you are at any given time without a map!

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