[Fox]

A buddy and I put together a day hike this last Saturday in Hurd State Pak. Hurd is on the CT River in the Portland area. It's a small park with a great trail system.

We did this in the hopes of meeting some new potential hiking partners. We think it worked out very well.

We started off meeting in a parking lot that sits at a trailhead on Rt 151 just on the edge of the park. Everybody showed up at the pre-arranged time and off we went. A gorgeous day was coming together and by the time we got down to the river we were all peeling off layers.




The trail ran alongside the river for about a mile and then it climbed gradually to a bluff. The bluff was high enough to offer some decent views too.


The trail led away from the river at this point and headed into the woods. We of course followed it. We crossed what the park called, White Mountain. Another bluff in the woods this time that gave us views east and north.


We dropped down of the high area of the park and walked through the mostly deserted common area in the center of the park and picked up a trail that would bring us back to the parking lot. On this trail we passed a spot that looked like it had once been quarried. A little further down the trail we found a spot that had definitely been quarried and so we did a little exploring and climbing.



We eventually got back to the cars where we set up a small grill and a stove and made a big pot of coffee and had a barbeque.

All in all a really good day for a hike and a nice little loop to do it on. Got to meet some really great people that hopefully I’ll have the pleasure of hiking with again in the not too distant future.

[Andrew]

Great pictures!

I looked up the park here:

http://www.ct.gov/de...A=2716&Q=325224

It reads:

"In 1914, only one year after the establishment of a State Park Commission, the state purchased 150 acres of the present Hurd Park as part of an initiative to obtain land for public use along the Connecticut River. Situated in the town of East Hampton on the east bank of the river, the park has grown to almost 1000 acres and is especially popular with small boat owners. Many of these boaters recognize the park by its landmark "split rock" towering above the trees."

Do you have any pics of aforementioned "Split Rock?"

Regardless, looks like you had a good day.

Cheers!

[Fox]

Andrew, on Nov 21 2007, 09:57 AM, said:

Do you have any pics of aforementioned "Split Rock?"

I do as a matter of fact.

I read that too. I think they exaggerated the 'towering above the trees' a bit.

Split Rock

[dudley]

I believe that the "split rock" is quite visible from the river, and does seem to tower above the trees that are lower on the bank
According to my topo map "split rock" is at 266 feet
The river can't be whole lot more than sea-level at that point

I was looking at the local topo maps because I though that "split rock" may be being confused with a river navigational landmark nearby called Rock Landing
Two different places