bryan
New member
date: 7/27/13
trails: Groton State Forest Road, bushwacks
conditions: the road i used to access the peaks seems to have a couple different names. some refer to it as gore road, but some maps i have show it starting as gore road then becoming groton state forest road. regardless if you follow rt. 302 a bit over 14 miles west from 91 it is on the right and signed as groton state forest butterfield mountain block. i drove for .3 then went left at the first fork (i believe going right can get you to the same spot ultimately as the road makes a loop, but i did not travel that portion to say what the condition of the road is). i drove for another .4 then went right up a steep hill. this required backing up to get a running start. was a bit rough, but ok in a passenger car. after that hill the going was good for the next 1.5 miles to where i parked in a large grassy area to the left of the road. these roads do have gates on them and i don't know the schedule for their opening/closing so a bit of extra walking might be necessary depending on the time of year. i walked the road downhill across the waits river on a bridge with signal pretty much right in front of me. i followed the road for another tenth or so up hill to what may have been its highpoint before it loops down and back to gore road. there is room to park a car here too if you so desire. i headed in almost due north towards signal with generally open woods. some sections of thicker undergrowth. higher up the woods were open and fern laden up to the summit. lots of moose sign and some decent paths at times. down the same way and back to the car which was conveniently parked at a good point to head up butterfield so i went straight into the woods from there and picked up the ne running ridgeline up towards the summit. once again the woods were generally open with some thicker sections of undergrowth particularly hobblebush. higher up the woods were wide open with fields of tall grass and ferns. though beautiful footing was tricky in the thick growth. some good moose paths helped out on the way to the summit. followed roughly the same route back down.
equipment: nothing in particular.
comments: a good day for these bushwacks with nice dry woods and sunny skies. the woods were beautiful and loaded with moose sign. some nice looks over to signal from high on butterfield. great to be out.
bryan
[email protected]
trails: Groton State Forest Road, bushwacks
conditions: the road i used to access the peaks seems to have a couple different names. some refer to it as gore road, but some maps i have show it starting as gore road then becoming groton state forest road. regardless if you follow rt. 302 a bit over 14 miles west from 91 it is on the right and signed as groton state forest butterfield mountain block. i drove for .3 then went left at the first fork (i believe going right can get you to the same spot ultimately as the road makes a loop, but i did not travel that portion to say what the condition of the road is). i drove for another .4 then went right up a steep hill. this required backing up to get a running start. was a bit rough, but ok in a passenger car. after that hill the going was good for the next 1.5 miles to where i parked in a large grassy area to the left of the road. these roads do have gates on them and i don't know the schedule for their opening/closing so a bit of extra walking might be necessary depending on the time of year. i walked the road downhill across the waits river on a bridge with signal pretty much right in front of me. i followed the road for another tenth or so up hill to what may have been its highpoint before it loops down and back to gore road. there is room to park a car here too if you so desire. i headed in almost due north towards signal with generally open woods. some sections of thicker undergrowth. higher up the woods were open and fern laden up to the summit. lots of moose sign and some decent paths at times. down the same way and back to the car which was conveniently parked at a good point to head up butterfield so i went straight into the woods from there and picked up the ne running ridgeline up towards the summit. once again the woods were generally open with some thicker sections of undergrowth particularly hobblebush. higher up the woods were wide open with fields of tall grass and ferns. though beautiful footing was tricky in the thick growth. some good moose paths helped out on the way to the summit. followed roughly the same route back down.
equipment: nothing in particular.
comments: a good day for these bushwacks with nice dry woods and sunny skies. the woods were beautiful and loaded with moose sign. some nice looks over to signal from high on butterfield. great to be out.
bryan
[email protected]
