Report Type: TM Report
Trail Name: Naugatuck State Forest
Town: Oxford
Trail Conditions: Beige Trail, blazed, but mostly not
rideable
Observations/Information: I had a busy day in my final
(yeah) trail project at the Naugatuck State Forest. I blazed the trail along the west side of
Reservoir 3 in Beige. Why beige? I had half a can of it from my neighbor from
when he moved. On the trees, it looks like a pale yellow. You can see it in the
photo of with the logs. I cleared a blowdown that was blocking the trail. I
blocked off two of the three trails at the first stream crossing, and created
my own approach to the second stream crossing.
I placed logs by junction with the Red-Green Trail, so
people can follow the Beige trail. I did some light pruning along the sunny
part of the trail. The photos of the trail are AFTER I did my light pruning.
You can push through on foot, but there is lots of growth that will catch on
bike handlebars. The sections that are in the woods, closer to Reservoir 4, are
fine for bicycling.
I carried the pickup truck parts to the Chestnut Tree
Hill Road gate for the state to remove. The state removed the truck several
years ago. The parking lot at this location has been greatly enlarged, which is
good news because this area needs a good sized lot. Twenty cars could probably
park in this area now.
I found two wood ticks crawling around my car as I was
driving home. I tossed them out onto the hot asphalt at the supermarket to cook
and die. A very thorough tick check found no creepy crawlers on me.
I'll schedule a work party after the frost. While it
would be tempting for someone to blast through there with a brush cutter, the
reality is that there are many good native tree, shrubs, and other plants
intermingled with the nasty invasives. My focus would be careful pruning of the
natives and ripping out the invasives as much as possible.
Trail Ambassador Name: Tom Ebersold
Trail Ambassador E-mail: bikehikekayak123 [at]
sbcglobal[dot]net
How did you use the trail? Hiking/Walking
Trails Ridden:
Beige (West side of Reservoir 3)
Time of day: Afternoon
Time/Duration (hours):
4
Approximate Distance (Miles): 1
Image 1: Map-Naugatuck SF West w. colors.jpg
Image 2: NSF, Beige Tr. after clearing, 6-16.JPG
Image 3: NSF, Beige Tr. start
at Red-Green Tr., 6-16.JPG
Image 4: NSF, car parts at Chestnut Tree Hill Rd.
parking, 6-16.JPG
Image Description(s)/Instructions: The color-coded map of the
Naugatuck State Forest, along with views along the Beige Trail and the car
parts formerly along the trail.
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