The Pachaug-Nehantic Loop winds through forests that offer unexpected solitude and year-round backpacking in southeastern Connecticut. The loop through Pachaug State Forest has two shelters, with two more on a third trail in the forest for a longer hike.
Region: Northeast (Pachaug State Forest, Connecticut)
Length: ~31 miles (3 days)
Physical Difficulty: Easy
- The elevation gain is 2,848 feet, and two sections account for the bulk of the elevation gain: Mount Misery (441 feet) and about 2 miles of steep up and down scrambling through rocky ravines north of Beach Pond.
- Mostly soft dirt trails and forest roads. Some short, paved road walks.
- Water crossings can be tricky after heavy rain, but bridges, some in poor condition, span the deepest crossings. I had to take off my shoes and pants to wade across one deep crossing, but I suspect the deep water was because of torrential rains in the days before my hike.
Logistical Difficulty: Easy
- Loop trail done in three days, so resupply not needed. Only two sites where camping is allowed: Dawley Pond and Dry Reservoir shelters. Permits are required.
- Plentiful water. Late-winter rainstorms before my hike left trails covered in water.
- Some forest roads leading to trailheads are closed for the winter so it’s a good idea to call Pachaug State Forest headquarters to find where you can park in the off-season.
Season: Year-round
Net Elevation Gain: 2,848 feet
Hiking the Pachaug State Forest Loop
The ~31-mile loop that I hiked combined parts of the Pachaug and Nehantic Trails in Pachaug State Forest, Connecticut’s largest state forest at 26,477 acres.
Horses are permitted on sections of the trail, and I saw two men riding horses and a fair amount of horse poop on trails. The trails also cross sanctioned dirt bike tracks.
Trailhead parking (shown on this interactive trails map) is scattered throughout the forest, but if you’re planning the off-season loop that I did I recommend parking on Fish Road, which has year-round access. The hike from Fish Road to the Dawley Pond Lean-to is ~14 miles, ~11 miles to Dry Reservoir Lean-to, and ~6 miles to Fish Road.
I parked at Fish Road and hiked south for 2 miles on the Nehantic Trail through mountain laurel stands before reaching Green Fall Pond. Water covered low-lying trail sections, a harbinger of wet trails to come for the rest of the hike.
I stopped for lunch at Green Fall Pond, a seasonal recreation area with swimming, picnic tables, outhouses, grills, and camping. This is the southern terminus for the Nehantic and Pachaug Trails.
Heading north from Green Fall Pond on the Pachaug Trail the route follows a low and mostly dry ridge for 4 miles to Route 165, crossing Route 138 along the way. The trail turns right onto Route 165, a state highway with narrow shoulders and fast-moving vehicles, for a short hike skirting the southern end of Beach Pond. The road walk enters Rhode Island at the bridge over the pond outlet, then crosses the road and heads back into the woods as the trail winds north along the pond’s eastern shore. The trail hugs the shore through the Arcadia Management Area in Rhode Island before veering away from Beach Pond and back into Connecticut and Pachaug State Forest. This is a nice stretch of the hike that offers waterfront access for hikers, unlike across the pond where the Connecticut shore is crowded with mega houses.
After leaving Beach Pond the trail begins a roughly 2-mile stretch through rocky ridges and ravines that were filled with water after late-winter rains. The trail becomes a scramble up and down the low but steep ridges, and is the most difficult section of the loop.
After the ridges the trail flattens out, and the hike to the Dawley Pond Lean-to is fast and easy. Although it’s called the Dawley Pond Lean-to, the three-sided structure is north of Dawley Pond, on Great Meadow Brook Pond.
The map here correctly shows the shelter’s location on Great Meadow Brook Pond. The Connecticut Walk Book, a comprehensive guide to Connecticut’s blue-blazed trails, mistakenly shows the shelter on Wickaboxet Marsh.
The shelter was clean when I arrived, but because it is so close to a road the shelter apparently can be a trashy party spot.
I filled up with water at the Great Meadow Brook Pond outlet just before reaching the clearly marked shelter side trail, and recommend filling up at one of the streams north of the pond if you’re coming from that direction. The pond shore is weedy and shallow at the shelter, making it difficult to get water.
The trail heading north from the shelter to Cedar Swamp Road passes stone walls and cellar holes, remnants of long-ago farms. An apparent gravesite for a 3-year-old girl who died in 1891, with fresh remembrances left at the site, sits along the trail through this section.
Emerging from the woods onto Cedar Swamp Road, the trail heads west for a short road walk. The road climbs easily to a wide-open hilltop farm—at 600-plus feet the highest point on the trail—where the wind blew fiercely from the northwest during my hike, pushing against me as I pushed back.
The trail crosses Route 49 to Hell Hollow Road, and the road walk isn’t well-blazed. But a sign does indicate the trail’s return to the woods, which loops north off Hell Hollow Road before heading south and crossing the road again.
The trail stays in the woods for several miles, crossing and following forest roads. The trail passes the Lowden Brook Cascades, and several deep pools in the brook below the falls look like promising cooling-off spots on a hot summer hike.
The walking continues to be easy to the Pachaug Trail junction with the Nehantic Trail. At this point the Pachaug and Nehantic Trails merge and head west through a recreation area popular for exercise walking. The trail soon veers left into the woods and begins ascending Mount Misery, supposedly named by European settlers for the area’s miserable farming soil. The hike to the 441-foot summit is easy and fast, and the main view is to the east and the forests I passed through on the first day of my hike.
The trail descending Mount Misery is blue-blazed but it’s easy to mistakenly follow—as I did—a herd path rather than the marked trail. At the base of the mountain the trail again follows a forest road before re-entering the woods.
A short distance later the Pachaug Trail heads south while the Nehantic Trail continues west to the Dry Reservoir Lean-to. The trail crosses a stream just before the shelter, and this is the water source for the shelter.
The Dry Reservoir Lean-to is clean, but small. I couldn’t stand up without bumping my head.
Although there’s no outstanding view at the shelter, I did see a stunning sunset and sunrise through the bare trees.
The final leg of the hike is ~6 miles, backtracking over Mount Misery and then south on the Nehantic Trail from the junction where the Pachaug Trail splits off to head north. The hike from that point back to Fish Road is flat and easy, with a short road walk on Route 49. Although blazes are few on the state highway the turnoff into the woods is clearly marked.
How to Get to Pachaug State Forest
Norwich and New London are the closest cities in Connecticut, each about a 30-minute drive to Pachaug State Forest. TF Green International Airport in Warwick, Rhode Island, is about an hour drive away.
Trailheads: Fish Road, Green Fall Pond Road, Shetucket Turnpike, Brown Road, Hell Hollow Road, Fire Tower Road, and Headquarters Road.
About the Pachaug-Nehantic Loop
The trails are mostly flat, with easy vehicle access to trailheads. Because camping is allowed only at shelters, the loop I hiked requires at least 14 miles to a shelter the first day, and about 11 miles to a shelter the second day.
But there are opportunities for shorter loops using the many interconnecting trails in the state forest. And two shelters on the Narragansett Trail make a point-to-point hike possible on that trail, or possibly putting together a different loop hike.
Here’s the route I followed on my hike:
Day 1: Park in the parking area for about 6 cars on Fish Road in Voluntown, CT, at the Nehantic Trail trailhead. Hike ~2 miles south on the Nehantic to its southern terminus at Green Fall Pond, and at the pond take the Pachaug Trail north to Dawley Pond Lean-to. Total mileage, ~14 miles.
Day 2: Continue north on the Pachaug Trail to Hell Hollow Road, then veer south and after several miles connect with the Nehantic Trail at the recreation area. Hike west on the Nehantic-Pachaug Trails over Mount Misery, then head north on the Nehantic Trail when the Pachaug splits off to head south. The Dry Reservoir Lean-to is a short distance north on the Nehantic Trail. Total mileage, ~11 miles.
Day 3: Backtrack on the Nehantic Trail and Nehantic-Pachaug Trails to the junction where the Nehantic heads south and the Pachaug goes north. Follow the Nehantic Trail south to Fish Road. Total mileage, ~6 miles.
When to Hike the Pachaug-Nehantic Loop
Spring: April can be a good month for hiking as trees begin budding and wildflowers bloom; May is warm and still mostly bug-free. March is iffy. During my hike in early March streams were swollen—one required knee-deep wading—and trails were filled with water in low spots after a week of heavy rain. Temperatures for my hike were 29 to 45, but a few days later they reached the upper 60s.
Summer: Buggy, humid, and hot.
Fall: My favorite time for backpacking. The days begin cooling off in September, and October brings peak New England foliage. November can continue to have good weather good for hiking, but hunting season begins in the state forest.
Winter: Snow is rare, and when it falls usually melts within days, making the Pachaug a good winter hike if you have cabin fever.
The Pachaug-Nehantic Loop Terrain
The trail is mainly flat as it meanders through pine and hardwood forests. The Pachaug Trail follows low ridges north of Green Fall Pond and then rocky, steep ridges north of Beach Pond.
Mount Misery is the only significant climb on the Pachaug-Nehantic loop.
Ponds, marshes, and streams are plentiful, some next to the trail, others visible in the distance through the trees.
Logistics: Permits, Camping, Water
Permits: Permits are required to stay at the four shelters in Pachaug State Forest. Dispersed camping is not allowed. Information on obtaining permits from the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection can be found here.
Shelters: Dawley Pond and Dry Reservoir shelters are on the loop I hiked; Peg Mill and Legend Wood shelters are on the Narragansett Trail, which connects with the Nehantic and Pachaug Trails at Green Fall Pond. The shelters do not have bear boxes or privies.
Water: Streams and ponds are close enough along the trail that I didn’t worry about running short of water. I carried a liter and never ran dry.
Route-finding: The Pachaug and Nehantic Trails are marked with solid blue blazes; side trails use different-colored blazes and most are marked with signs. Blazes are sparse on road walks but signs mark trail turnoffs into the woods.
Know Before You Go
Clockwise or Counterclockwise?: It’s personal preference. I hiked the Pachaug-Nehantic Loop counterclockwise to get the longer-mile days out of the way on the first two days, with an easy hike to my car on day three.
Private Land: Parts of the loop pass through private land, making it important to follow the camping guidelines to preserve trail access.
Parking: The Connecticut Forest & Park Association, which maintains the 825-plus miles of blue-blazed hiking trails in Connecticut, has an interactive map on its website showing trails, shelters, and trailhead parking, with directions to the trailheads.
Transportation: Driving your own vehicle is the only practical way to get to the trail.
Cell Reception: Good throughout the forest.
Trail Guide: The Connecticut Walk Book is the ultimate guide to Connecticut’s blue-blazed trails. The book is compiled by the Connecticut Forest & Park Association, which maintains the trails, and can be purchased from the CFPA or through Amazon.
Trail Updates: Trail information such as reroutes and damaged bridges can be found here. But the information does not appear to be updated online to indicate whether problems have been resolved.
Ticks: Lyme disease was first identified in Connecticut, and the ticks carrying the disease can be active year-round. I spray my clothes with permethrin and do careful tick checks of my body after every hike in the woods.
About the Forest: At 26,477 acres in six towns, Pachaug is the largest state forest in Connecticut. The word Pachaug derives from the American Indian term meaning bend or turn in the river, referring to the 9-mile Pachaug River. The forest was inhabited by Narragansett, Pequot, Wampanoag, Nipmuck, Pocumtuck, and Mohegan peoples, most of whom were driven from their lands by European settlers.
Tree Damage: Gypsy moths heavily damaged oak and maple trees in the 2010s, evidenced by swaths of clear-cut forests and the number of dead trees on the ground in the Pachaug State Forest.
State Campgrounds in the Forest: The Green Fall Campground and Mount Misery Campground in the forest are car-camping sites that offer base camps for hiking.
Pachaug State Forest Resources
Interactive Map of Trails, Trailhead Parking, and Shelters