Metacomet Trail: Section 1

Section 1: An Inauspicious Beginning
Berlin Turnpike-Orchard Road Turnoff, 1.8 miles, Berlin
April 29, 2007

Note: This page and “section” is a bit ridiculous, however, the trail description is accurate. This was written in 2007, so please forgive me. If you want to start at the beginning, go the Metacomet Intro here.

Hoang and I were both exceedingly excited to begin the first section of our trek. This, despite the fact that it’s less than 2 miles long, is entirely along a dangerously twisty road with no shoulder, and is very poorly marked. But wait – let’s begin at the beginning: The Southern Terminus of the Metacomet Trail. All trails have a nice sign at each end; perhaps giving some mileages-to-go and some of the unique history surrounding the trail’s origins. It should be riiiiiiiiiiiiight here. Or over there. Wait… Is that it over there? Hm.

That’s strange. But let’s back up even further – back east a mile across the southern tip of Berlin to the western edge of Middletown and nearly to Hoang’s and my place of employment in 2007. Here, check this out.. the following three pictures were taken from the top of the hill on the back road I take to work every morning.

Pretty cool, huh? What’s cooler is that when we drive home north each day up Route 9, we generally follow the ridge the Metacomet Trail takes north… and after we pick up our son Damian in New Britain, we parallel it even closer through Farmington and then up by the reservoirs near our home in West Hartford. So you see, I was pretty familiar with this trail before we began.

You could say that I’m weirdly proud of it, which is why I’m so excited to check out that sign at the Southern end. So we poked around a bit more which gave me time to reminisce. My memory took me back to 1996 to the beginning of my Appalachian Trail thru-hike and my experience at Amicalola Falls State Park in Georgia. After seeing the extensive visitor’s center, weighing my pack, signing in, and then hiking straight up Springer Mountain 8 miles, I finally came upon the southern terminus of the AT. It was rough, primitive, and beautiful.

I remained hopeful as trucks rumbled past at 65 mph along the Berlin Turnpike. According to my map, the trail starts right about here:

Nah, he looked a bit upset with us photographing his classy motel. I can’t imagine why. Looking across the highway, I noticed the timeless and classic combination of strippers and Go-Karts. I don’t know about you, but whenever I’m done Go-Karting, I immediately like to see strippers… and vice-versa.

2019 Update: Centerfolds has closed.

Getting nowhere, Hoang and I decided to refuel at the gas station conveniently located right across from where the beautiful Metacomet Trail begins (or so I thought). With 1.8 miles of road walking ahead of us, we needed all the essential salts, lipids, and sugars we could get. And since it appeared we were going to be walking an extra mile or so in search of the trail’s beginning, we were sure to stock up there.

Ok, let’s think this through. The trail is 70 years old and I’ve seen a million signs for it crossing the roads I drive all the time – Hey! Is that a bag of Corn Nuts? Mmmm, their saltiness goes nicely with the sweetness of the Diet Pepsi.

Now that we were both rarin’ to go, we buzzed around like bees looking for the interpretive center at the beginning of the trail. Or the descriptive signage. Or the little sign pointing the way. Or maybe a blue blaze? A bread crumb?

Nope to all of the above. The trail just sort of begins where you want it to begin. The map I had shows it starting right in front of the truck repair place on the Turnpike (next to the motel above). However, 100 feet south there is a telephone pole that I have officially dubbed the southern terminus of the Metacomet Trail (The first blue blaze is painted on it.)

(*Not actually geographically correct, as the trail heads south into Meriden ahead, but you get the point.)

I should paint my own dang sign. In light of the ignominious beginnings to this trail, neither of us expected anything different along the way. The “trail” simply followed Orchard Road a couple miles through suburban Berlin. I would guess that 70 years ago, this was a lovely mixture of forest and pasture and perhaps orchard. But now the “trail” passes a bunch of subdivisions. In truth, there were lots of really nice houses along the way, a couple little farms, some train tracks, a babbling brook, some trees… But we were so hopped up on sugar and caffeine that we barely noticed as we ran like loons all the way.

I know this section of “trail” is the only way to link the Metacomet to the Mattabesett, which starts just across the Berlin Turnpike and winds Southeast through Middlesex County. However, I was a little bit deterred by the lack of blazes along the way. I counted 3 going each way. Granted, all we had to do was follow the road but still… If I didn’t know that from my research, I’d have been mad. And even when we reached the turnoff into the woods, there was nothing alerting us to do so other than the map.

Although we were both excited to enter the woods to hike along a real trail, we had agreed to stop at this point and save that section for another day. Even if that section is less than 1.5 miles long and appears to merely be an overgrown flat path through some woods. Just know that the trail does climb up and get to a couple really cool spots in short order, I promise.

Continue on to Section 2: Look! We Took Crooked Brook!

CFPA Trails Map
CTMQ’s Metacomet Trail Intro
CFPA’s Blue Trails Challenge
New England Trail