Having lived near Barrington for a long time now and having raised children, I had heard of the Winnie The Pooh Trail, but never really given it much thought. To be honest, I had thought it was a whimsical, small trail with figurines and maybe book pages along a relatively short path telling the story of Winnie The Pooh. I've seen a couple other trails around the state that have done the story telling that way. Couldn't have been further from the truth. This area is a great little area, and the story telling is done with nature itself. A few spots along the trail with (now well worn) plaques identifying well known places in the Winnie The Pooh story. The trail is well maintained and easy to follow. It would be a great place for kids to explore with just enough of a challenge physically for little kids without being strenuous. Some mild rolling terrain and beautiful woods. Laura and I started early and took the Goodwill Trail out to the property boundary. On the way back we did an out and back on the Beaver Dam Trail which included a little spur to a bench amongst the trees. We then did an out and back on Marika's Ledge Trail, which led to another bench this time overlooking a pond. Finally we did Ledges Loop Trail which is a lollipop trail up and over a small ridge. We then took Melvin Trail which follows along the pond to meet up with Pooh Trail. We turned right and followed Pooh Trail up and around back down to Goodwill Trail, taking the shortcut to create a little lollipop. By the time we were on this trail, we passed a few families and it was so cute to see the kids excited about each little stop. Back at the intersection with Melvin Trail, we finished Pooh Trail including the loop around past Kanga, Roo and Tigger's House and another bench. Overall we ended up with about 4.5 miles. I was really impressed with this area! Not what I imagined it was going to be at all!
