The thing with redlining is some of the hikes are really long.. and some are really short. The tough thing with really short ones is you don't want to drive for hours just to hike a couple miles. So these are good "tack on" hikes as I call them. Since our adventures at Slim Baker Foundation weren't overly long or taxing, we opted to "tack on" the trails at Paradise Point, just 20 minutes down the street. Paradise Point is located at the Newfound Audobon Center on Newfound Lake. There are about 2.5 miles of trails if you cover them all. We opted for loops, much like we did at Slim Baker. Heading down the driveway we encountered the Loop Trail first. We took this which led out to Newfound Lake. Wonderful peekaboo views across the lake through the trees. The trail was a little more technical than I had thought for a Nature Center, but wasn't overly difficult. Just more rocky, rooty and damp than I had anticipated. Which then of course brings out the bugs. We bumped into a staff meeting for the Nature Center on the dock. Not a bad place for a staff meeting at all! After finishing the Loop Trail, which ends at the Nature Center, we backtracked to the water and picked up the Lakeside Trail.. which as you can probably guess followed the lake around to a very small area known as "The Point" which was basically a rock that had a wonderful view over most of the lake. There were a couple swimming when we arrived with a little picnic set up, so we didn't go down, but continued onto the Ridge Trail. This trail left the lake and headed up a ridge through some marshy areas and several different types of tree areas (I'm not a plant person, so I'm not good with naming things). This is the "steepest" portion of trail in the center. Eventually winding back around to the Nature Center, we completed the area by taking the Elwell Trail. This smaller loop also goes back to The Point.. the couple had left, so we were able to enjoy a brief break on the rock with a snack. There was also a really cool tree right near this intersection that was described as the "giraffe tree" on the trail guide. Laura spotted it right away. You can see from my picture where it gets its name. Very cool tree. We finished the second half of the Elwell Trail, which met up with a connector trail and back to the car. By now we were a little hot and sweaty, so an ice cream stop at Idle-A-While store on the lake was in store. A really perfect ending to a much needed quiet day of hiking.
Strava Activity
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| the Nature Center |
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| the Giraffe tree |
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| Newfound Lake from The Point |
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| this tree has grown right over the rock |
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| amazing how trees can adapt |
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