Spring in Macedonia Brook

Okay, so Connecticut is not a large state BUT the largest state park is Macedonia Brook. And boy, is it nice in the spring. The park is essentially two tall mountain ridges cut down the center by Macedonia Brook, a quiet little stream that snakes through a couple of miles of picnic areas and campsites. We visited last August, but our site wasn’t nearly as idyllic as the one we stayed in this time. Oh site 43, you treated us well.

After a run-in with some angry teen girls who really wanted site 43, we were victorious. So we threw up the tent about 15 feet from the edge of the brook, just so the sound of the water could lull us to sleep. Cold sleep. It’s still only May in New England. The site was nicely tucked away from other sites, and although this was by far the best in the campground- all the sites here are great. Compared to some of the dusty parking lots they’re calling campgrounds up here, Macedonia Brook’s sites are all nicely spaced out and wooded. Some are more private than others of course, but overall it’s a really nice place to do some car campin’.

On Sunday the sun was shining and the trails were calling. There are many miles of trails all within the park, aside from the Appalachian Trail, which passes close by outside the park boundaries. We decided to stay in the park and hike up to the surrounding ridges right from our site. There is a 6.7 mi circular ridge trail that basically surrounds the perimeter of the park, with a bunch of other easier trails criss-crossing throughout. We ended up doing most of that ridge trail, but cutting off the north corner. We managed to hit Cobble Mountain though, which is the highest peak in the park, the route up there is a bit, let’s say “rugged”. When all was said and done it was 5.7 mi, 4.5 hrs. It was the first hike of the season and I felt it the next day, but it was a good first outing.