Hartman Park Fun Ride (plus Ice Cream!)

We're having at ride at Hartman Park in Lyme in conjunction with the Southeast CT chapter on Sunday June 14th. If you've never ridden Hartman Park it's a fun place with twisty, moderately rocky and rooty trails, short steep climbs. A social no-drop pace for riders intermediate and up. We'll be going for ice cream at a local shop after the ride.

Meet at 9AM at 109 Gungy Rd in Lyme CT.

Hartman Park

Date: 7/13/14
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: Lyme/Salem
Trail Conditions: Good, clear
Observations/Information: Rode Hartman park with Cory, Al, & the bro Sunday morning. The trails were in good shape, clear, and there really wasn't anything for us to do TA wise. Cory took us on a mini tour of the place, incorporating many of the yellow-blazed short cut trails. I had never really ridden these trails, preferring to take the long way, but they're good trails in their own right, of the rocky and rooty type typical of the older trails here, and with narrow bridges with difficult approach angles. We checked out Thom's new bridge on the red trail power line section- nice work.

We then rode out into the state forest, doing a counter-clockwise loop that put us on the powerline and finally the orange trail up on the ridge. We descended on the blue trail and then spent some time on the new trails south of Hartman Park. These trails are much smoother, straighter, and less rocky/rooty than the Hartman Park trails, and are a good place to put in a few extra miles.

Afterward we went to Salem Valley Farms for ice cream. All around a great ride. Hartman is the type of place where a good rider can be challenged, but have the chance to clean almost everything.

Trail Ambassador Name: Glenn Vernes
Trail Ambassador E-mail: glennvernesatgmaildotcom
How did you use the trail? MT Biking
Trails Ridden: Red, orange, yellow, blue, dirt roads
Time of day: Morning
Time/Duration (hours): 2.0
Approximate Distance (Miles): 12
Image 1: HArtman 7-13-14 005.JPG

TM Report: Hartman Park

Lily Rock

Date: March 15th, 2014
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: Lyme
Trail Conditions: snowy, muddy
Observations/Information: went to Hartman to clear a route for a truck to get the bridge out to the red trail's intersection with the power lines. Got there early so I did a quick hike down the "lily rock trail" .. snow still covers 50% of everything in the park.. some patches on north facing areas are up to 6" deep still... YUCK!! going to be a bit longer before it's "really" ridable.

Did get the way cut for the truck so hoping with weather clearing and all maybe next weekend hauling it out. ..?...?..?
Trail Ambassador Name: Thom Lamourine, Cory Stiff, Linda Bireley

Hartman Park

Date: Feb 22, 2014
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: East Lyme
Trail Conditions: snow covered, not ridable

Observations/Information: hiked out to look at the water flow and open up the area for the new bridge crossing the stream on the red trail and the lower power lines crossing. Snow was WAY deeper than it is here 5 miles away at the shore. got out there and planned out a better area next to the power lines road that will be better to cross the stream and hopefully still allow the trucks to get by without needing to move it like the last one was.... forgot to take pictures once out there but we took out about 35 ft by 8 feet of brush and crap to relocate. did take a picture on the ay out :)

Trail Ambassador Name: Cory Stiff, Linda Bireley, Wendy, Thom Lamourine

Hartman Park

Date: Feb 9, 2014
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: Lyme
Trail Conditions: ?

Observations/Information: building a bridge to replace the one crossing the stream on the red trail at the power lines. The one that is there isn't actually all that old but the classic side roll out of one of the joists happened and now it's all cracked also.. so a new one it is. The new bridge will be a good bit longer as the old one kinda sat in the water and wasn't high enough over the stream so it actually caused a back up of the flow making the whole area even more flooded.. The new one will total out between 22 and 24 feet long and close to a foot above water level where the old one was maybe 10 ft long and basically sat in the river.

There is an issue though as the power company will need to be able to get around it and/or remove it and replace it easily if they need to get up the hill to work on the lines. So, it's getting built in 3 parts. 2 platforms that will raise the center up. aproximately 4 ft long each, with the 16 ft center piece I just built.

Also going to try and cut back some growth and move the bridge off the main road to the side so the power truck can hopefully just drive by. But if the do have to move it the center can just be rolled on it's side and the 2 platform pulled easy to add about 3 feet of extra clearance... hopefully !


Trail Ambassador Name: thom lamourine

Hartman Park

  

Date: Jan 31, 2014
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: Lyme CT
Trail Conditions: mostly decent, some ice under snow in a few locations.

Observations/Information: Andy, Glenn, Linda and myself hiked out the the orange trail just north of the powerlines to move a downed tree off the trail and set it up to be a skinny. i had pretty much limbed it and got it prepared and so all we had to do was use a bit of muscle and rotate it off the main trail. We got it done faster than any of us thought so having the 2 cordless chainsaws we started so of the basic knock out on top.

 Kinda went down and cut notches and then Glenn and Andy took turns breaking out chunks. I'd say it's about 3/4's done. was really surprised at just how much the battery powered saws did.. Probably still need a "real" chainsaw to do some of the nastier cuts to finish off but that should be easy now.

Trail Ambassador Name: Andy Bennett, Glenn Vernes, Linda Bireley, Thom Lamourine

Hartman Park

   

Date: Jan 16, 2014
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: Lyme CT
Trail Conditions: moist
Observations/Information: Was riding Hartman last week with Cory and others and we noticed a few trees down. I just got the new cordless Chainsaw and wanted to give it a try and see how it is, not just for cutting but for carrying around out in the woods. I only remembered off hand the one big tree on the red trail between the 2 bridges at the north west corner. So parking out by the field I hiked in along the new red trail reroute after the field and noticed it's draining WAY better than the original that it replaced.! Got out to the tree and noticed it was a bit much for the saw as it's bigger around than the saw's bar is long. Hiked a bit farther looking for something a bit smaller but found nothing so I turned around and decided to give it a try... well the video tells the tale... :)



Trail Ambassador Name: Thom Lamourine

Hartman Park

Date: Jan 1 2014
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: Lyme
Trail Conditions: Frozen, frost pop and ice in some places
Observations/Information: Cory posted up on Facebook that he was riding at Hartman park and Steve, Glenn and myself showed up.. It was COLD!! vey cold but we rode through it! There are a few trees down here and there that we'll try and get out there and cut out but it's not looking like it'll happen any time soon with the snow reported to arrive tonight and tomorrow. I did a few short cuts as I needed to keep it light on my knee and cut off probably 2-3 miles of the red trail they went on and met them up on the top of the orange trail at the high point of the power lines..

Did notice that a few areas we try and close off do to erosion and swampy conditions that people keep opening back up. gunna have to talk to the land managers and see if and what they want to do about it. Otherwise the place seems like it's in good condition... forgot just how rough and on the same note how fun it is to ride there.
Glen whacked his chainring and busted a chain, which is funny as it's usually Single speeds that go for ever and the geared guys who have the issues... not this trip ...

Got a few 1/2 decent vid shots I made the goofy movie from.
Trail Ambassador Name: Cory Stiff, Glenn Vernes, Steve Eldridge, Thom Lamourine

TM Report: Hartman Park

What it used to look like

what it looks like now....

Date: April 28, 2013
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: Lyme
Trail Conditions: GOOD!!
Observations/Information: Went in an built the bridge on the red trail today. Weather was perfect, people were perfect, bug spray worked perfect.. bridge went up perfect.. was just all around perfect :)

All meet at the new entrance area. hiked in with tools and such to not only assemble but clear some of the debris and stuff up stream to help keep the stream flowing instead of over flowing. Everyone worked on the bit of "foundations" work. Then Cory, Steve and Keith worked on benching and armoring the tiny re-route to the bridge to keep the trail on higher ground while Linda, Parker and myself assembles the decking and such of the actual bridge.

  

She's pretty solid now and even with next springs overflow the trail should stay pretty much dry!!

We took a bit of a ride up the red trail after...
Trail Ambassador Name: Cory Stiff, Keith Coughlin, Steve Eldridge, Linda Bireley, Parker Lord and Thom Lamourine

TM Report: Hartman Park

Date: April 24, 2013
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: East Lyme
Trail Conditions: nice!!
Observations/Information: today was SUPER productive! thinking like a 1/2 dozen towns people showed up!

Took the materials up this morning on a trailer and dropped it at the new access tail/road entrance. Parker and myself started cutting and clearing the access road with the chain saw and when the rest arrived they jumped right in clearing the smaller material out so we could drive the truck in. Few broke off and went up and finished clearing the Re-route I had flagged on the red trail. and the moved the trail markers and blocked off the old section.

I headed down to the stream with a metal pry bar and opened up the water flow making it more a river than a flood zone. Still more to do in the area but it's really drying out now in the overflow areas.

They got the road/trail cleared and we went up, loaded the truck and drove it in.

everything is all set for Sunday morning!!!
(if you are coming sunday BRING BUG SPRAY!!!)

Trail Ambassador Name: Thom Lamourine and from the town of Lyme, Linda Bireley, Parker Lord, Mac Godley, Paul Parulis, Diana Boehning, Marta Cone,
Tina Kozlowski.

TM Report: Hartman Park

Date: April 20, 2013
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: East Lyme
Trail Conditions: un known
Observations/Information: So yesterday afternoon the Lumber truck dropped off the first load of materials for the Bridges We'll be doing in Lyme. This one is going into Hartman Park on the red trail about a 1/2 mile north of the field. town is actually cutting a road/trail in to get it in there :)

My brother showed up today (all in dress clothes LOL ) and decided when he saw it that he'd help pre-cut and test fit it with me... so.. here it is all ready to go :)

thinking next Sunday for install but not 100% on that yet. If anyone is interested in helping screw it all together :)



Trail Ambassador Name: Thom Lamourine

TM Report: Hartman Park

Date: April 15, 2013
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: Lyme
Trail Conditions: good.
Observations/Information: Walked the proposed sections of the Red trail where I need to access to get the bridge in... not only was it approved but they actually want to make it semi permanent as the multi town parks are looking to tie a salem park into Hartman and it's near perfect access. So I don't have to hide it after work is done... Bonus!!

then we went to the bridge location and that was approved and material list has been made.. thinking 2 weekends from now assembly if people want to help. going to be the actual bridge and some stone work on and around to clear the stream and set better footings for the bridge it's self.

Then walked the red trail re-route which is basically approved along the flagging.
Trail Ambassador Name: Thom Lamourine, from the Town of Lyme- Linda Bireley, Parker Lord

TM Report: Hartman Park

Date: April 10th 2013
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: Lyme
Trail Conditions: good mostly
Observations/Information: Killing 2 birds with one stone this morning...
Cory got some flags and left them for me at Hartman. This morning I went out and marked up a trail reroute (more just a shift to the left a bit ) to avoid a mud bog in the red trail just north of the field.

Basically just sliding the trail up 20-25 ft up the grade instead of it running right along the river's edge. I did try and add a bit of rolling to the grade so it should have no issues draining. It's difficult there as you can't bench cut or do any real ground work as it's pretty much solid stone 2 inches under the top soil. :( Hopefully can get the town's approval next week and actually have it done a few days after as most of it is just raking out the dead fall and leaves...

We are also getting ready to put in another bridge across the stream right on the north western corner of the park on the red trail. issue is getting the material in to the site. But I think I have a rather easy way in that seems to actually be an old wagon road as the grade is perfect, and again some minor dead fall clearing and it should be an easy trek into the site. Hoping with approval and obtaining materials we can install that before the end of the month... anyone want to do some trail work? :)

Hartman re-route & bridge  at EveryTrail

EveryTrail - Find the

best trails near Hartford, Connecticut

Oh... the annoying Bungie bugs are out!!!!!
Bungie bug = little black flies who bounce right in front of you like they are tied to bungies hanging off your helmet

Trail Ambassador Name: Thom Lamourine

Hartman Park

Date: 3-30-2013
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: Lyme
Trail Conditions: awesome for the most part.

Observations/Information: When I read the post from Cory that he was riding Hartman i was a tad concerned that it would be "moist" riding there as the place is really 80% swamp. I was pleasantly surprised as it was basically bone dry. Still a LOT of dead fall branches and twigs ready to take out the unaware derailleur. Was a rather Slow-cial ride as I don't think any of us are close to in shape.

Also stopped and did some bushwacking research to find a way to hike material in for the newly proposed bridge I'm getting ready to build. I think we've found a reasonably easy way in :)


Trail Ambassador Name: Cory Stiff, Steve Eldridge, Thom Lamourine

Hartman Park

Date: 3/17/2013
Report Type: TM Report:
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: Lyme
Trail Conditions: Surprisingly good
Observations/Information: Had planned to ride at Bluff Point this afternoon but Steve couldn't get away from family responsibilities so Keith and I took a chance that Hartman would be ridable. We were not disappointed. The trails are in terrific shape with only few muddy spots in places that are almost always wet. We cleared a couple blow downs that blocked the trail. There is a large tree (~12 in diameter) across the Blue trail about half way down off of Chapman Ridge. There is room to go around but as this is a fairly high speed section of the trail, caution is advised.
Trail Ambassador Name: Cory Stiff, Keith Coughlin

Hartman Park

Date: March 1 2013
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: Lyme
Trail Conditions: snowy slush, not ridable!
Observations/Information: took a trip up to Hartman to check out the conditions. Here on the direct shore the snow has pretty much melted off but head in land just that 5 miles and it's a whole different story. mostly 4-6 inches of slippery, ice crystal type snow with areas over a foot, made it hard just to walk in let alone try to ride. Rivers are over flowing pretty much everywhere.

somewhere under that water is the bridge!!

gunna be a few weeks probably before the snow melts off enough and things dry up there :(


Trail Ambassador Name: Thom Lamourine

Hartman Park

Date: 1/20/2013
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: Lyme
Trail Conditions: Excellent
Observations/Information: Met up with a crowd of folks for a tour of Hartman and the new areas south of the park. Al Tinti popped down from the north; Thom, Steve, Keith and friends came up from coastal locales. All in all a great day to be out. We encountered several hikers and dog walkers. Thom and Steve stopped to reconnoiter an area for a proposed bridge and did a little trail work to improve water flow. The rest of us set out for Chapman Ridge. Only a little snow remains on the trails and I was surprised at the lack of mud given the warm temperatures. South of Hartman the town has built a bridge on the white trail in Walbridge Woodlands but didn't ramp up to it traveling south, caution is warranted as it lies at the base of a fairly steep hill.

Trail Ambassador Name: Cory Stiff, Thom Lamourine, Steve Eldridge, Al Tinti, Keith Coughlin

Hartman Park

Date: 12/13/2012
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: Lyme/Salem
Trail Conditions: Good. Leafy
Observations/Information: My brother and I rode Hartman Park late Thursday morning. The trails were dry in almost all places but covered with a deep layer of leaves that hid the copious rocks and roots this place is known for. Trails were clear of logs and brush and well marked, and the map box was full. The benches at the school room (sign board) were conveniently arranged like one long, curving plank skinny for mountain bikers' enjoyment.

NEMBA has done a lot of good work here over the past few years, mainly in the person of Thom Lamourine, including blazing and bridge building. Thanks to Thom there are many well built and bike freindly (ramped on each side) bridges throughout the park. Hopefully we'll be able to do more good work in the form of trail realignments and treadway improvements in the future.

I hadn't ridden here in over 10 years and was able to ride right through sections on my rigid 29er single speed that used to give me fits on my 26er geared FS bike. The big wheels definitely make the rock gardens easier and who knows, maybe I've improved as a rider a little bit too. The single speed part was something different, as there are a lot of short, steep, rocky hills with loose soil that favor a geared bike for climbing.

For most riders, the key to having a good ride at Hartman is knowing which trail to ride in which direction. Knowing the lines is important too. For example, we started by riding the red trail clockwise, and quickly decided it might be more fun in the other direction, since we were going (read walking) up most of the steep slopes. We noticed the fall line Thom blocked off on his recent TM and we approve. I'm not sure it was a thrill line but a cheat line made by riders who couldn't handle the rock garden on the actual trail (we both cleaned it, so it can be done).

We then rode the blue trail up to the top of the ridge (fun most of the way but steep and loose at the top), and the orange trail counter-clockwise down the "little scramble" and back to the parking lot (fun).

Hartman Park is the type of place where a good XC rider who knows the lines can clean almost everything and have fun doing it. I'll be trying to piece together a loop that avoinds the really sketchy and unrideable stuff and I'll post my progress as I do.


Trail Ambassador Name: Glenn Vernes

TM Report: Hartman Park

Date: 12/12/12
Report Type: TM Report
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: Lyme
Trail Conditions: good..
Observations/Information: went out with a few people from the town of Lyme to finish the re-blazing of the Red trail, last section is now done. kinda a hike out but it was good as way more people showed than expected so we went out as 2 crews and worked from each end toward the middle, got done pretty fast actually considering it's a good 1/2 hour hike out to that section.

One note that some may get upset about is the major downhill/fault line we closed, is WAY to rough and heavily eroded. The actual trail never did go down it but a LOT of people used it as a short cut/ downhill thrill. We blocked it off and moved leaves to show the real tread line, then hid the old line really well so hopefully most people wont even notice till they are on a section they don't recognize.. We'll see if some crazy down hiller types try and re-open it... hopefully not.
Trail Ambassador Name: Thom Lamourine

Hartman Park

  
Up on the new OverLook on the Young Preserve - and Trail Dog  

Date: Turkey Day 2012
Report Type: TA Report:
Trail Name: Hartman Park
Town: Lyme
Trail Conditions: nice, dry, leafy
Observations/Information: For those that don't know, the Town of lyme acquired 2 new properties they opened this week that is adjacent to Hartman Park running south along Gungy Road. Walbridge Woodlands and the Young Preserve. Some friends and myself took a walk through many of these new trail, (plus some old ones)
The new trails are really well marked but the tread needs some serious packing and there are a few corners and other sections with the leaf coverage and old road/trails cross along with open tree spacing you could just pop off trail, but you'll catch on quickly and again, it almost overly marked so you'll find your way around easy. I will say about 80% is not very "Hartman" like and is going to be nice XC single track trail. there are like 3 connections to the original Hartman section but the old logging road will most likely be the main access. (yellow trail) There are a few area's where there is some steep climbs that will be challenging to say the least. There is also a new parking lot (like 6 cars maybe) down just off the 4 way stop signs of Gungy and Beaver Brook. Look for the rope swing, it's just a field area past it with the sign for the Park. Not really a good choice for biking as It's about straight up hill to the new over look trail (blue) that brings you to a nice rock ledge high point, decent views now but the trees and leaf cover are probably going to block it during the summer, still a really nice spot!
The new White trail on the eastern edge that travels along the shared border with Nehantic forest is much more like the traditional Hartman trail surface and should supply plenty of the more familiar  rough-ish terrain the park is known for and should be a good challenge, though the leaf cover makes it hard to really tell just what's under there at this point.

  

Up on a ridge on the White Trail along eastern edge bordering Nehantic - and the map of the new area

the first few times you explore out there take your time and look around, there are some really cool terrain areas and features that are pretty interesting that you might miss just flying by. there is also a big new Cell antenna just out in the middle of no where...
Trail Ambassador Name: Thom Lamourine