CFPA New England Trail Series: Reservoir Loop Trai LbNA #69429
Map
Nearby Boxes
Add Note
Add Location| Owner: | CT Forest & Park Assoc  |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Nov 1, 2015 |
| Location: | Brooks Rd |
| City: | Middletown |
| County: | Middlesex |
| State: | Connecticut |
| Boxes: | 1 |
| Found by: | Team Rogue |
|---|---|
| Last found: | Apr 15, 2023 |
| Status: | FF |
| Last edited: | Nov 20, 2015 |
New England Trail Letterboxing Series: Reservoir Loop Trail
Total Distance: Varies; As an out & back, approximately 2.2mi
Start at the Brooks Road trailhead in Middletown, CT
Google Maps Directions: https://goo.gl/h4KI7p
The 8-part New England Trail Letterboxing Series was created by Connecticut’s oldest non-profit conservation organization, the Connecticut Forest & Park Association (CFPA). Grab your gear and get ready to experience one of America’s national scenic trails right here in your own backyard. Discover the rich natural and cultural features of this incredible trail. Enjoy this fun and adventurous learning quest! We challenge you to find all 8 in the series. To learn more, visit www.ctwoodlands.org.
From the street side parking on Brooks Road adjacent to Asylum Reservoir #2, proceed first to the trail map kiosk. Study the map, zap the QR code to download a copy of the kiosk map, or take a photo of the kiosk map with a camera or smartphone. The blue-blazed New England Trail (NET) and the blue/yellow-blazed Reservoir Loop Trail intersect several times and, after you find the letterbox, you’ll be able to hike the route of your choice back to the trailhead.
When you’re ready to start your hike, walk downhill on the edge of Brooks Road until you see the blue blazes on a telephone pole indicating a right turn. Just past there, turn right into the woods where you see a wooden sign signifying that this is the Mattabesett section of the NET. Watch out for any poison ivy as you enter the woods (remember the old saying: “Leaves of three, let it be!”). Follow the blue blazes as you hike through a forest composed of mixed hardwoods, including maple, oak, and beech. Shortly after entering the forest, an unmarked trail will branch off of the NET to the left; continue on the NET.
After a short while of hiking, follow the NET as it climbs up a rocky outcropping that, for a distance, parallels the shore of the reservoir. Asylum Reservoir #2, along with several similar reservoirs in the area, was dug by hand around the turn of the 20th century to provide water for the nearby Connecticut General Hospital for the Insane. This mental health institution opened in 1868 and was one of the largest and most innovative of its kind in the country at the time. Today it is called the Connecticut Valley Hospital. Along the outcropping you’ll pass an outlook with excellent views of the reservoir. Be careful, it’s a steep drop-off! You may notice the ground here is covered in pine needles, which have fallen from several eastern white pine trees. Widely used in modern times for its light, durable lumber, the eastern white pine was also utilized in the colonial era by the British for masts on sailing ships (which caused tension between the colonists and British and led to the Pine Tree Riot of 1772 in New Hampshire), and, before that, by Native Americans who consumed part of the bark and cones for food. They also used the sap for waterproofing .
Before continuing onward, give the reservoir a careful scan. Great blue heron can occasionally be seen here during the spring through fall seasons. These large, stately birds silently stalk their prey, such as fish or amphibians, in shallow water, waiting for the right moment to strike with a quick thrust of their long bills.
Continuing along the NET, you’ll descend the rocky ledges, at one point coming close enough to the shore to give the water a good inspection. See any small fish or snapping turtles? As you continue on, scrambling up and over another rocky outcropping, take a careful look at the rocks. You may notice that their surfaces are often covered in various lichens. Lichens have a variety of forms but often look like very low growing plants, though they are, in fact, not plants. Lichens are actually two organisms, a fungus and an algae, living symbiotically (i.e., close and long-term interaction between dissimilar biological species). Often, symbiosis is mutually beneficial. Here, for example, the fungus covers the algae and provides minerals and water while the algae provide nutrients through photosynthesis. While lichens are extremely long-living and can survive in some of the world’s harshest environments, your footsteps can kill them, so tread carefully. Dog lichen, which can be gray or brown and have leathery, wrinkled lobes, are particularly common here.
Keep following the blue blazes, eventually reaching an intersection with a jeep road. If you’re in the mood for a short detour, take a right onto the jeep road and walk to the end for more views of Asylum Reservoir #2. Retrace your steps back to the blue-blazed trail.
To continue towards the letterbox, stay on the NET by crossing the jeep trail. As you hike, keep an eye out for a “four-sister tree” (four trunks) off the trail to your right. This is a northern red oak, highly prized for its heavy, close-grained wood. Trees like this, with multiple stems growing from one base area and having a single mass of roots, occur when the original trunk of the tree is damaged (which can happen naturally or from being cut by people), resulting in new stems sprouting from the original stump.
After hiking further, the blue-blazed NET will intersect with the blue/yellow-blazed Reservoir Loop Trail. A sign indicates various distances on each of the trails. Directly next to the sign is a chestnut oak tree blazed on two sides with blue/yellow blazes. Chestnut oaks have distinctive deeply ridged bark. Continue straight through the trail junction, staying on the blue-blazed NET. The next landmark on your adventure will be Reservoir Road, an unpaved road closed to vehicles.*
When you reach Reservoir Road, cross the roadway and continue on the blue-blazed NET.**
Hike along the NET, eventually crossing an intermittent stream. Continue following the blue blazes as you make a steep and rocky climb. After the steepest part, the trail will reverse direction and then skirt the edge of a steep drop off. As you hike on, you’ll pass some views of Asylum Reservoir #1. Soon enough you’ll arrive at the base of a broad, sloped expanse of bedrock. Climb onto the rock, turn right and hike uphill. At the top, you’ll have excellent, sweeping views to the west. Downtown Middletown, though partially obscured by trees, will also be visible.
Next, on to the letterbox, it’s very close now! Find the trail at the top of the bedrock outcrop. Just after entering the forest, look to the left of the trail for a four-sister chestnut oak tree (it’s less than 50 feet into the woods off of the trail). The letterbox is hidden in a hole in one of the trunks near the base. Congratulations! Hide well when finished. To return to the trailhead, you may continue on the NET to the next intersection with the blue/yellow-blazed trail, and then follow that all the way back. You could also reverse direction and return the same way that you hiked out. If you’re feeling adventurous try any other combination that you can be create using the blue and blue/yellow blazed trails.
*As indicated by the sign, you have two options to get there: Straight through the intersection on the blue-blazed NET, as recommended above, or left onto the blue/yellow Reservoir Loop Trail. The NET will be slightly longer and include a fun but steep climb up a rock outcrop, while the Reservoir Loop Trail will be gentle as it follows a gradual downhill grade.
**If you took the blue/yellow-blazed Reservoir Loop Trail from the previous intersection, then turn right onto Reservoir Road and walk less than 100 yards to the intersection with the blue-blazed NET, then turn left onto the NET. If you took the blue-blazed NET, then cross Reservoir Road and proceed on the NET. Upon reaching Reservoir Road, you may also decide to take a detour to the left onto Reservoir Road for a pleasant stroll along Asylum Reservoir #1.
Hike length: 2-3 miles
Total Distance: Varies; As an out & back, approximately 2.2mi
Start at the Brooks Road trailhead in Middletown, CT
Google Maps Directions: https://goo.gl/h4KI7p
The 8-part New England Trail Letterboxing Series was created by Connecticut’s oldest non-profit conservation organization, the Connecticut Forest & Park Association (CFPA). Grab your gear and get ready to experience one of America’s national scenic trails right here in your own backyard. Discover the rich natural and cultural features of this incredible trail. Enjoy this fun and adventurous learning quest! We challenge you to find all 8 in the series. To learn more, visit www.ctwoodlands.org.
From the street side parking on Brooks Road adjacent to Asylum Reservoir #2, proceed first to the trail map kiosk. Study the map, zap the QR code to download a copy of the kiosk map, or take a photo of the kiosk map with a camera or smartphone. The blue-blazed New England Trail (NET) and the blue/yellow-blazed Reservoir Loop Trail intersect several times and, after you find the letterbox, you’ll be able to hike the route of your choice back to the trailhead.
When you’re ready to start your hike, walk downhill on the edge of Brooks Road until you see the blue blazes on a telephone pole indicating a right turn. Just past there, turn right into the woods where you see a wooden sign signifying that this is the Mattabesett section of the NET. Watch out for any poison ivy as you enter the woods (remember the old saying: “Leaves of three, let it be!”). Follow the blue blazes as you hike through a forest composed of mixed hardwoods, including maple, oak, and beech. Shortly after entering the forest, an unmarked trail will branch off of the NET to the left; continue on the NET.
After a short while of hiking, follow the NET as it climbs up a rocky outcropping that, for a distance, parallels the shore of the reservoir. Asylum Reservoir #2, along with several similar reservoirs in the area, was dug by hand around the turn of the 20th century to provide water for the nearby Connecticut General Hospital for the Insane. This mental health institution opened in 1868 and was one of the largest and most innovative of its kind in the country at the time. Today it is called the Connecticut Valley Hospital. Along the outcropping you’ll pass an outlook with excellent views of the reservoir. Be careful, it’s a steep drop-off! You may notice the ground here is covered in pine needles, which have fallen from several eastern white pine trees. Widely used in modern times for its light, durable lumber, the eastern white pine was also utilized in the colonial era by the British for masts on sailing ships (which caused tension between the colonists and British and led to the Pine Tree Riot of 1772 in New Hampshire), and, before that, by Native Americans who consumed part of the bark and cones for food. They also used the sap for waterproofing .
Before continuing onward, give the reservoir a careful scan. Great blue heron can occasionally be seen here during the spring through fall seasons. These large, stately birds silently stalk their prey, such as fish or amphibians, in shallow water, waiting for the right moment to strike with a quick thrust of their long bills.
Continuing along the NET, you’ll descend the rocky ledges, at one point coming close enough to the shore to give the water a good inspection. See any small fish or snapping turtles? As you continue on, scrambling up and over another rocky outcropping, take a careful look at the rocks. You may notice that their surfaces are often covered in various lichens. Lichens have a variety of forms but often look like very low growing plants, though they are, in fact, not plants. Lichens are actually two organisms, a fungus and an algae, living symbiotically (i.e., close and long-term interaction between dissimilar biological species). Often, symbiosis is mutually beneficial. Here, for example, the fungus covers the algae and provides minerals and water while the algae provide nutrients through photosynthesis. While lichens are extremely long-living and can survive in some of the world’s harshest environments, your footsteps can kill them, so tread carefully. Dog lichen, which can be gray or brown and have leathery, wrinkled lobes, are particularly common here.
Keep following the blue blazes, eventually reaching an intersection with a jeep road. If you’re in the mood for a short detour, take a right onto the jeep road and walk to the end for more views of Asylum Reservoir #2. Retrace your steps back to the blue-blazed trail.
To continue towards the letterbox, stay on the NET by crossing the jeep trail. As you hike, keep an eye out for a “four-sister tree” (four trunks) off the trail to your right. This is a northern red oak, highly prized for its heavy, close-grained wood. Trees like this, with multiple stems growing from one base area and having a single mass of roots, occur when the original trunk of the tree is damaged (which can happen naturally or from being cut by people), resulting in new stems sprouting from the original stump.
After hiking further, the blue-blazed NET will intersect with the blue/yellow-blazed Reservoir Loop Trail. A sign indicates various distances on each of the trails. Directly next to the sign is a chestnut oak tree blazed on two sides with blue/yellow blazes. Chestnut oaks have distinctive deeply ridged bark. Continue straight through the trail junction, staying on the blue-blazed NET. The next landmark on your adventure will be Reservoir Road, an unpaved road closed to vehicles.*
When you reach Reservoir Road, cross the roadway and continue on the blue-blazed NET.**
Hike along the NET, eventually crossing an intermittent stream. Continue following the blue blazes as you make a steep and rocky climb. After the steepest part, the trail will reverse direction and then skirt the edge of a steep drop off. As you hike on, you’ll pass some views of Asylum Reservoir #1. Soon enough you’ll arrive at the base of a broad, sloped expanse of bedrock. Climb onto the rock, turn right and hike uphill. At the top, you’ll have excellent, sweeping views to the west. Downtown Middletown, though partially obscured by trees, will also be visible.
Next, on to the letterbox, it’s very close now! Find the trail at the top of the bedrock outcrop. Just after entering the forest, look to the left of the trail for a four-sister chestnut oak tree (it’s less than 50 feet into the woods off of the trail). The letterbox is hidden in a hole in one of the trunks near the base. Congratulations! Hide well when finished. To return to the trailhead, you may continue on the NET to the next intersection with the blue/yellow-blazed trail, and then follow that all the way back. You could also reverse direction and return the same way that you hiked out. If you’re feeling adventurous try any other combination that you can be create using the blue and blue/yellow blazed trails.
*As indicated by the sign, you have two options to get there: Straight through the intersection on the blue-blazed NET, as recommended above, or left onto the blue/yellow Reservoir Loop Trail. The NET will be slightly longer and include a fun but steep climb up a rock outcrop, while the Reservoir Loop Trail will be gentle as it follows a gradual downhill grade.
**If you took the blue/yellow-blazed Reservoir Loop Trail from the previous intersection, then turn right onto Reservoir Road and walk less than 100 yards to the intersection with the blue-blazed NET, then turn left onto the NET. If you took the blue-blazed NET, then cross Reservoir Road and proceed on the NET. Upon reaching Reservoir Road, you may also decide to take a detour to the left onto Reservoir Road for a pleasant stroll along Asylum Reservoir #1.
Hike length: 2-3 miles