TA Report: Haley Farm/Bluff Point State Park

Gang Green at the Bluff

Date: June 27, 2011
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Bluff Point State Park
Town: Groton
Trail Conditions: good, few minor wet spots in the usual places

Robert Gagne, manager of the Highland Hardware and Bike Shop
in Holoyoke, MA vacationing in Groton.

Observations/Information: Mark is down on Vaca and wanted to ride Bluff Point. Actually started out in Haley Farm and road over to bluff x-ing the train tracks. kinda just tooled around the fire roads at first and got to Bluff's parking lot. then headed off into the trails from there taking the snap left just at the 2 toilets and heading off and up to the little play ground next to the train tracks, crossed the fire road and blasted up onto the ridge and rode out on the main run to the bluff. Hung there for a bit then cruised one of the Mumford cove side trails and out back to Haley Farm where were did a quick loop around the field and up to the split rock.

Haley Farm - Split Rock

Trails were all in good shape and dry except for the very bottom road on the edge of Mumford where it's always muddy.

Trail Ambassador Name: Mark Lurie, Thom Lamourine

TA Report: Haley Farm/Bluff Point

Date: June 16
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Haley Farm/Bluff Point
Town: Groton
Trail Conditions: good, dry surprisingly
Observations/Information: headed over to Groton, haven't been in awhile. started out at Haley Farm and rode over to Bluff Point. kinda cruised around thinking it'd be wet/muddy after all the rain this past week and the bit we got last night but the place was surprisingly dry. few "soft" spots but nothing to worry about. Just did the main section in the middle and the south-western area is usually muddy the longest. hung out at the bluff for a few mins.. saw the Coast guard cruise in the bay for some reason.

Trail Ambassador Name: Thom Lamourine

TA Report Bluff Point and Haley Farm State Parks

Date: January 1, 2011

Location: Bluff Point & Haley Farm State Parks

Condition of Trails: Wet & slushy

                                     

Observations: Paula and I rode Bluff Point & Haley Farm on Saturday the first. Conditions could have been better, but they were good enough to make riding worthwhile. Trails were wet but not muddy, slushy but not icy- our bikes stayed clean until we got back to the sandy parking lot. There were a lot of other riders on the trails as well.  

I find that the best strategy to employ in these marginal conditions is to stick to the rideable trails. On this particular occasion I stuck to climbing on the south-facing hillsides, because they had less snow, and descending on the north facing ones. I spent most of my time on the singletrack trails near the railroad tracks. Some of the trails in the interior of the park were only marginally rideable and not much fun.  All in all a worthwhile ride and a good way to start the year.

TA Report: Bluff Point/Haley Farm

Couple Long Islanders and Steve

Date: 9/11/10

TA Name: Thom Lamourine

Location: Bluff Point and Haley Farm State Parks

Observations: Couple friends came over for Long Island to visit and ride Bluff, did mostly simple stuff because one of them was kinda a newbee and he really didn't want to get into it much, just cruise around. Newbee actually did really well when we headed off to some of the single track and only walked or caught pedal a few times.  Parked at Haley Farm, Started the ride at the fields along the river side, crossed over to bluff through the tunnel (low ceilings folks!!) once on bluff side.. headed down the fire road to the parking lot there and we hung out at the picnic tables. Other bikers, hikers and fishermen everywhere!! Trails were absolutely beautiful.

We did head up a single track to the main trail on the ridge then down to the Bluff. Steve and Corey broke off and hit the rock gardens while the newbee and myself hauled down the fire roads with a few short single track stretches down in the Munford cove section, then crossed back over and had hot dogs and hamburgers in the lot back on Haley Farm side.. all in all a good casual ride!!

TA Report: Bluff Point, Haley Farm

What? A CLIMBer left the Sand Bar?

Date of Activity: 6/26/2010
Trail Ambassador Name: Thomas Lamourine
Town:Groton, CT
Location:Haley Farm & Bluff Point

Condition of Trails(s): Good, great, very dry, over grown-ish
Observations:Friend came over from Long Island (AKA the "Sand Bar") with his wife for her (??)th birthday. Got her a long morning spa treatment and he escaped to come ride for a few hours. Parked at Haley Farm and rode over to Bluff where Steve, who was running late, met us. The Bluff and Haley Farm were great. LOTS of family type groups riding around today!
Did a quick run on the left side little ridge by the train tracks and then headed up the main ridge spline of the park and cruised out to the bluff. DId a few of the more harsh rock garden type stuff along the edge of Mumford Cove. stopped at one of the many little secluded beaches and when I got off the bike my seat snapped. :( oh well, sorta half fixed it by putting the broken area in the middle on the seat clamp to get out on it. Had a good day though and was pretty whipped with the humidity so it didn't hurt or ride much. Cheapie seat that's very old (and stinky too, blaacc) so I'm not crying about it.

Trail Ambassador Email: Thom(at)ectrr.com
Trail(s) Ridden: a Mix
How did you use the trail: biking
What was the time of day: 10AM
Duration (Hours):2+
Distance (Miles): ?


I need to loose weight!!?

TA report - Haley Farm/Bluff Point

Date of Activity: 5/5/2010

Condition of Trails(s): Good, dry, down right awesome!!

Trail Ambassador Name: Thomas Lamourine
Trail Ambassador Email: Thom(at)ectrr.com
Town: Groton, CT
Location: Haley Farm/Bluff Point
Trail(s) Ridden: a Mix
How did you use the trail: Mountain Biking
What was the time of day: Noon
Duration (Hours): 3
Distance (Miles): 8-10

Observations: Trails were great. trails are the perfect surface, not muddy, not so dry as to be dusty. Bug content in the area has lowered quite a bit!! Woohooo!!! I have noticed some new trail and features added, not sure if these are legal or not but they are well built and 2 I know are done very well and clean up some heavy erosion areas.

Trail Report Haley Farm

Date of Activity: 2/28/10
Trail Ambassador Name: Stephen Eldredge
Trail Ambassador Email: steveeldr@yahoo.com
Town: Groton, CT
Location: Haley Farm/Bluff Point
Trail(s): several
How did you use the trail: biking
What was the time of day: 1:30 to 3:30
Duration (Hours): 2
Distance (Miles): ?

Condition of Trail(s): I went out fully expecting to turn around and go home because the trails were under water. To my surprise, not only were the trails not underwater, they were still firm and fast!! I rode around the fire road up towards the train tracks then hit the single track. I only encountered one area that was swampy, really good drainage in most areas. headed over to Bluff Point and could see that the fire road heading toward the parking lot was flooded, went up into the single track and everything was smooth and flowing. Up in the woods there are a couple of areas that don't drain well and there were a couple of puddles but for the most part a great day!!

Observations: Couldn't have asked for nicer weather this time of year, mostly overcast but the sun poked out a few times. I only saw a handful of dog walkers and hikers and four other bikers! Two bikers were on single speeds 1 a 29'er (Mark) and the other a 26'er (Don) both great guys I've ridden with before and I realized as we were talking that we had done the same thing almost exactly a year ago. Well we rode again and they kicked my ass again, only not as bad this time. It was a great day but I had to bail and go pick up my son from his friends' house.

TA Report Bluff Point & Haley Farm State Parks

Date of Activity: November 19, 2009
Location: Bluff Point & Haley Farm State Parks

Trail Ambassador Names: Glenn Vernes
Trail Ambassador Email: glennvernes33athotmaildotcom

Town: Groton
Trail(s) Ridden: Many, all unmarked
How did you use the trail? Mountain Bike
What was the time of day? Late Morning/ Afternoon
Duration (Hours): 3.75

Distance (Miles): 15ish
Condition of Trail(s): Dry, clean, with a thin layer of leaves. Lots and lots of thorn bushes.

Observations: The plan was to scout out a route for a chapter group ride to be held in the near future. I figured I might find two hours of riding, but was pleasantly surprised to find a good deal more. This place sports quite an inventory of trails considering its relatively small size. They wind like spaghetti over the large dome-shaped hill that makes up most of Bluff Point, and some are pretty technical. Not a lot of roots, but some tricky rock gardens, and steep ups and downs. Tight and twisty sections too. They're in very good condition considering the amount of traffic they get. Many sections are lined with thorn bushes. It's a great place for a 29er (is there any place that isn't?) but single speeders might find themselves spinning out their gear in some places. The trails are all unmarked, no blazes anywhere, and the map is useless. It's pretty easy to use the ocean, cove, and airport for orientation- at least when the leaves are off the trees.

I visited Sunset Rock, which is not as romantic as it sounds- especially when you're alone. I crossed the bridge over the railroad tracks to Haley Farm State Park. It's a scenic place with good views of Mumford Cove and Groton Long Point, stone ruins that give it and old world feel (see picture), more thorn bushes, and a lot of dog walkers. The better trails are on the Bluff Point side.

All told I saw five or six other bikers and too many hikers/joggers/dog walkers to count. I cut one fallen tree that was sticking into the trail at a dangerous angle.

TA Report: Haley Farm State Park

Date of Activity: 6/19/09

Condition of Trails(s): Much dryer that I expected after all the rain. Some minor "greasy Spots" but nothing damaging to ride on! Just stay out of the Swamp area.

Trail Ambassador Name: Thomas Lamourine
Trail Ambassador Email: Thom(at)ectrr.com
Town:Groton , CT
Location: Haley Farm State Park
Trail(s) Ridden: random
How did you use the trail: Mountain Biking/hiking
What was the time of day:2PM
Duration (Hours): 3
Distance (Miles): 8ish (guessing forgot to hook up the puter)

Observations: Only been there a few times coming across from Bluff Point. Did a little scouting around and found a lot more trails than I thought were over there.