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February 2024 by Jeff Pedersen
We went on a Saturday afternoon and the area was pretty much shut down. Bathrooms were locked and every gate closed. There was a wood fire running in the little service building, but nothing was open. We and other visitors just turned around and drove away. The area is gorgeous, but hard to tell from the one little road area we had access to.
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December 2023 by Victor Bernabei
Beautiful park
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November 2023 by EE Grimshaw
I woke up at my mother's house on Thanksgiving morning remembering that I had a 10K step challenge to tackle before I began consuming wine and turkey. I've never been hiking or even gone for a walk in this area, so I decided to wing it and quickly did an AllTrails search in the nearby vicinity for something slightly more challenging than a flat gravel path. (Note: I'm not a huge fan of AllTrails for a number of reasons, but it 's not a bad resource for finding a hike and being able to track where you are on said hike - you can't trust the ratings and the alleged difficultly levels AT ALL though.)I did the 3.2-mile Saugatuck Falls and Hardwood Trail Loop, which was a lollipop hike starting from the main entrance across the street from John Read Middle School up, then going right on the Falls Trail to and past the Saugatuck Falls, up the Hardwood Trail, then descending on the Burn Trail skirting the archery area before heading back on the Knapp Way/Hemlock Trail to the entrance again. I was a little apprehensive about the parking situation; everyone seemed to be parking at the middle school, which definitely had plenty of spaces to go around when I was there. Regardless, the idea that a local authority would be heartless enough to tow a car 20 yards from a hiking trail entrance on Thanksgiving morning seemed unlikely and there were no issues.Your enjoyment level of this hike (and this is true of most of them, in my experience) is likely going to be dependent on the time of year and weather. This was a gloomy, late fall morning, and it showed. I have zero trouble believing that this is a very pleasant optic in warmer weather with more foliage to play around with, but what I saw was a lot of murky wetlands and blah surroundings. It looks like there might be a rhododendron tunnel toward the tail-end of the hike, but in late November, it's a bunch of bare, skeletal branches. It rained within the past 24 hours, so the lower elevation areas (notably on Hemlock) were pretty muddy, and some light rock-hopping was required. It wasn't too slippery, thankfully, but you definitely had to be careful.My favorite part was likely the stretch of Falls Trail that ran along the Saugatuck River. It wasn't too damp, with a lot of trees and rocks to easily scamper up and down, coupled with some solid rapids. I'm not totally sure which part was considered the Saugatuck Falls (I was expecting a more dramatic waterfall situation), but that whole area had some decent babbling brook action that called back to some scenes from The River Wild.The trail maintenance itself wasn't too bad - I don't recall any required bushwhacking, for instance - but some of the markers were pretty rough. It also looked to me like whomever had been in charge of painting the markers on the trees didn't actually know the basic placement utilization of the blazes. For instance, if the trail is changing direction, you're supposed to have two blazes, with the top one either being to the left or right to indicate that direction. These just had two markers directly on top of one another, so you had to do some extra navigation to figure out where the trail was actually going. That's trail blazes 101, and it's odd to me that the group or people in charge of maintaining this area aren't aware of that.I wouldn't mind taking a stroll through here again in warmer weather, but nothing about this adventure blew me away. I did appreciate making a little more room for some stuffing though.
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August 2023 by Pil G
Nice for a short hike: 1-1.5 hr. The White trail has a lot of stones and tree roots near the fall but the rest is pretty easy. Blue and white trails and well identified. You may park in the school during weekends.
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August 2023 by K Goldman
Fun way to pass the day but it is not an easy flat path. Lots of tree roots and rocks. Wear hiking boots for stability. Your ankles will appreciate that. You still need to jump up and down on a rocky path. And the path is narrow. At times there was room for only one person. Thankfully it was not crowded when we went. Took the white trail to the falls. Might try the other trail and go up at the beginning of the trek.
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July 2023 by Paul L
nice hiking trails with beautiful little waterfalls. Definitely worth the time to escape from the hustle of CT life
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July 2023 by Glenn Bryan
Nice trail. Buggy, so take lots of spray. The falls trail is difficult, climbing over roots and rocks. Take one of the other trails and then down to the falls.
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July 2023 by Neela Baker
Very pretty little hike. Watch out for hornets on trail. Friend got stung for probably stepping on the nest and she was not too happy for the next few days
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May 2023 by patrizia farina
Wonderful little park. It makes you forget you are in CT...and it feels like you are in the middle of the mountains. With the recent rain the falls were just delightful!
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February 2023 by Justin Renda
The falls are pretty cool and reasonably easy to get to. The trail is a little sketchy in spots. As for the rest of the trails there I was a bit disappointed with the condition. Markings were good though.
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January 2023 by Ethan Beato
It was definitely fun when my wife and i went, but only issue is after rain or what not. The white marked path goes into the river/water. So if u arent careful. You can put yourself into a position that might be tough to get out of
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November 2022 by Heleen Raes
We did the falls and Hardwood trail loop on Alltrails and really enjoyed it! It’s a fun hike in beautiful forest, perfect to do with your dog.
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October 2022 by Jacqueline DiBono
This is such a great trail, but definitely requires some effort to get to the falls. I wouldn't recommend trying to get to the falls on a rainy day since you have to walk on and up rocky areas.
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September 2022 by Chris Lee
We wanted to see the falls mentioned in the Gaia app. You can park at the middle school at the start of the trail. It was easy to find but the trail was rough. When you finally make it there you first see a small waterfall. But when you climb up further from there, you can see a larger waterfall. Then u can follow the trail, along the power line, and make it back to the car park.
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August 2022 by brailyn rodriguez
Some parts of the trail are not very clear.