New London Conservation Commission Trails

 Little mini solo adventure exploring some more of the New London Conservation Commission Trails. 

Phillips Memorial Preserve

Phillips Memorial Preserve begins on a small dirt back road, there was a pull off with room for a few cars at the trailhead. There is a small trail network that is well maintained and easy to moderate in elevation gain. The trails are well marked, though there were a couple intersections (due to my effort in trying to trace them all) where I got a little turned around and had to consult the map to make sure I was filling in all the pieces. I basically did an outer loop incorporating Stone Wall Trail first and then Shore Loop Trail, with an inner loop over Ridge Trail. Stone Wall Trail follows along a beautiful stone wall (imagine that!) and past an old quarry before joining Shore Loop Trail and descending down to Otter Pond. There were 2 benches to sit and enjoy the view. Ridge Trail takes you up to the high point where there was a picnic table and peekaboo view over to Mt Sunapee. There was a rogue trail at the top of Ridge Trail that seemed to be marked by a bird feather in a rock, I started to follow it, thinking it may lead to a viewpoint or something, but when it seemed to keep going, I backtracked and kept to the official marked trails. Ended up being just a pinch shy of 2 miles. 

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Feather seemingly marking a rogue trail

Little Sunapee Forest Association

My experience so far has been mostly positive with New London Conservation Commission Trails. There had only been 1 prior that I had not liked and found difficult to navigate, and that was Molly-Charles Trail at Cordingley Preserve. The Little Sunapee Forest Association became the second and was much worse. It may have been the time of year with all the fallen leaves hiding the footbed, but the lack of decent trail markings and signage was not helpful. Parking is at a boat launch about a tenth of a mile down the road. The trail begins at a gate with a small sign saying Yellow Trail. I ended up doing the trail in reverse, which didn't help with my navigation as I had trouble trying to decipher the description backwards (this could entirely just be me and no fault of the description itself). At the first intersection I went right on the Orange Trail, which quickly became wet and muddy and messy. I reached the intersection with the Blue trail, which has a sign on a tree set back from the actual intersection. From here the condition of the trail was drier and a little more pleasant. When the trail reaches Little Sunapee Rd, bear left and look for the orange blazes. I knew the other end of the Blue trail intersected along here and I had planned on doing a loop of that trail and retracing the Orange that I had just done. I happened to catch sight of a tiny piece of purple flagging and looked left as it looked like a trail was going that way. I then caught sight of a tiny piece of blue flagging and thought, I wonder if this the Blue trail. I followed and sure enough, a little ways in the actual blue blazes began. There was no other indication that I saw though other than that purple flagging. Oddly enough about halfway along, the standard NLCC orange blazes also started. At the intersection with the Yellow Trail I had a little trouble finding where Blue went. Head down and left here and the blue blazes follow along the valley briefly before climbing back up on the other side. I rejoined Orange this time passing Blue and going all the way to Burnt Mill Road and a gate. The description the way I read it, says that the Red trail was across Burnt Mill Road from the gate.. which it is, but a little ways down the road. I spent way too much time looking directly across the road, I even walked down a little bit, just not far enough and saw no sign of the Red trail. I considered going back to my car and driving to the other end, but figured it had to be there somewhere. There was a truck parked a little way down, so I headed for that to see if it was at the trailhead. It was, there was a gate and 2 red blazes on the tree. These would be the only 2 blazes I saw the entire time. The truck ended up belonging to 2 hunters that were right ON the trail, so be mindful if hiking during hunting season. The Red trail is essentially an old road, it was wet in some places and in others I had to completely guess where the old road went. The further in I got, the harder it became to follow. I reached a clearing, which appeared that the trail veered left, but a huge blowdown was blocking the obvious direction of straight ahead. I eventually made it to a gate at the other end of the trail, blocked by another huge blowdown. There was nothing at that end that would have indicated the trail began there either, except for a Forestry sign that wouldn't have made me think it was a hiking trail at all. I actually opted to follow the road back to the Orange trail, rather than backtrack on the Red trail. Both because I really disliked it that much, and I didn't want to encounter the hunters again. Back at Orange, I had to backtrack to Blue and this time I was going to take Yellow to complete the loop. I reached the intersection and saw yellow blazes heading right. This went to the road again and seemed to end. I saw another sign saying Yellow Trail on the ground, but couldn't see where it went. I could see a house not too far from here, so I knew it couldn't go left from where I was. I backtracked between Blue and the road several times looking for any indication of where the Yellow trail went. Just as I was giving up and starting to head back to Blue to go back the way I had initially come, I spotted a yellow painted stake in the ground and then another going straight where Blue went left. Gosh, I was frazzled by this point and just wanted to be done. I was able to follow Yellow for the most part easily enough from this point though some of the blazes were very faded and difficult to see. At a wire fence, head left and follow that until you reach a brook and I-89 is right there, which was a weird juxtaposition from feeling like being in the middle of nowhere! This was actually a pretty area (despite the highway traffic) though the blazes were still hard to see at times. I made it back to the gate and was never so thankful to see the road and walk back to my car! One and done on those trails for me.

Strava Activity 

Yellow Trail on Little Sunapee Rd

first intersection with Orange Trail

Purple flagging marking Blue Trail

the tiny piece of blue flagging I had seen plus an actual blaze

NLCC markers for a bit as well as blue blazes

sign for Blue/Orange is back off the trail a bit

end of Orange trail on Burnt Mill Rd

Red trail off Burnt Mill Rd

the other end of Red trail at Messer Hill Rd

Intersection of Blue/Yellow.. those Yellow go to the road, don't follow

Yellow follows a wire boundary fence for a bit

at the I-89 turn

Shepard Spring Trail

Rounded out the day with a quick half mile loop around Shepard Spring Trail. Parking is roadside at the trailhead on Mountain Rd.  This one was well marked in the traditional orange NLCC markers and is a simple straightforward wander through the woods, passing a small spring. A couple of quirky finds helped redeemed the frustration from the previous trail. 

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