We returned to Pachaug State Forest in Voluntown, Connecticut, which we last hiked in 2017. Our hike was mostly on the Nehantic Trail and the Pachaug Trail. We had 4 youth and 2 adult participants on this trip.
We tent camped at the Dry Reservoir Shelter, using the shelter for our gear.
The hike was only moderately challenging, with modest elevation gains. The trails were well-marked. On the second day, the Scouts did some mapping to come up with the shorted, easiest path back to the vehicles; this cut out the hike up Breakneck Hill. We hiked about 6.4 miles the first day and 5.0 miles the second day. See our actual trail, as recorded by Joshua Froimson's GPS:
My Maps - map uploaded into Google My Maps
GPX file (for downloading)
The trail shelter is well off the main trail and out of sight of it. The nearest water source to the trail shelter is a brook on that side trail, almost at the junction to the main trail.
The weather was pretty cool, and it rained a fair amount, with the heaviest rain overnight.
Along the way on the first day, we encountered the same day hikers twice; they had taken a different route. While the forest had a number of trails, there were not too many people along the way.
On the way back, we stopped for ice cream at Buttonwood Farm Ice Cream in Griswold, Connecticut.
One of the Scouts had planned the Scout meals in accordance with MyPlate requirements as part of a rank requirement. His inclusion of spinach in two of the meals was not popular, possibly because it reportedly added some nutrition.
Page updated 5/26/25
J. Froimson
