In Depth Guide

This trail has stunning views but it comes at a cost. It has very tough terrain and steep climbs and one section is dangerous when wet or icy.

The Macedonia Brook Trail is a CFPA Blue Blaze trail near Kent in Connecticut. Its close to the Appalachian Trail and Pine Knob Loop Trail and also features in my Best Trails of Connecticut Guide.

You’ll want to do this loop counter clockwise so you deal with the rock scramble upwards not down, and as I learnt the hard way this is not an easy or safe trail in the winter.

Macedonia Brook State Park

The trail is located within Macedonia Brook State Park. The highest viewpoint is at the top of Cobble Mountain where on a good day you can see the Catskills in the distance.

Parking

There is ample parking here and even a campsite so I’m sure its a great trail to do in the Summer. Given that we missed the last 1.5 miles and took the alternate ( and far less bowel loosening Green blaze Trail) we will be back at some point in the Summer to enjoy the Lake and views from Cobble Mountain and let this Trail give us the views and magic it deserves.

Useful Info

Parking – Plenty of parking at the State Park and there is even a campsite.

Garmin Connect Gpx files and details here

The Story of the first time I went to Macedonia Brook Trail

I’m sat on a rocky ledge a few hundred feet up in the rain and above me out of sight directly above me Shona is shouting that she can’t see where the next blue blaze marker goes but it may well be straight up. It was a strange combination of events involving Reverend Edgar Heermance from the 1930s (who helped create the Blue Blaze Trail System) and some poor decision making that had led me to this place and I was feeling deeply unhappy about how safe we were. Shortly after we turned back and worked our way back down the ledge defeated.

I had done less than 6 miles on the Connecticut Blue Blaze Trail System and I was defeated.

Please don’t take this blog as a negative review on this beautiful trail, there is plenty of information for you later, but weaved into this guide is a confessional and learning experience on why poor decisions mean you don’t get the best out of a trail that deserves more.

So let me take you back a few hours so you can understand why over confidence and bad weather do not make good partners and why my visit to Macedonia Brook State Park left me with an unjustified opinion of this wonderful park.

After a morning enjoying the Pine Knob Loop Shona and I thought that despite the heavy rain we would get another 6 miles of Blue Blaze Trails done that day on a nearby loop. We have challenged ourselves to hiking or running all 815 miles of Blue Blaze Trails in Connecticut in one year , so with an average of more than 15 miles per week needed we felt the pressure to grab more miles that day.

We set off from the car park nearest the Blue Blaze Trail head and set off in very heavy rain. I smugly opted for a full waterproof poncho and was very pleased with myself about how dry it was keeping me. The first few miles anticlockwise were hilly through woods and was actually almost a bit boring. I put on waterproof trousers too as the super dry poncho happily dripped water onto my legs as I walked.

As if by magic the trail got less boring. A lot less boring. We found ourselves moving along a ridge with gentle sloping smooth rock with a sheer drop off to our left. Fine if its the summer and dry but frankly a little but unnerving in the cold near freezing point rain we were in. We had to pick our way carefully to avoid slipping off. I’m sure this is absolutely brilliant in the Summer, but on a cold freezing January in the rain it was like trying to tap dance on butter.

I took a short clip of video on one of the easier switchback descents.

Once off the ridge I assumed that was the worst of it.

It was not the worst of it.

In the distance I could see what can only be described as a large tall ominous and rocky ledge going up many hundreds of feet towards the top of Cobble Mountain. I optimistically decided that the Blue Blaze Trail would somehow go diagonally up it somehow and even when we got closer and could worryingly see a blue blaze proudly displaying itself half way up the sheer wall we assumed there must be an easy diagonal route half way up that we couldn’t see from where we currently were.

Half way up and you need to actually clamber up and over a sheer bit of rock to see the next Blazes. Shona hopped up to go look while I stayed below in the rain with a deep feeling that we shouldn’t go on. Shona hopped up and shouted down out of sight that she couldn’t see any blazes left or right.

Then there was an ‘aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah’ and she explained that we were carrying on straight up. I was less than impressed and used colourful British language.

I took off my pack and poncho and clambered up to look. The next section of the trail went up steeply up smooth rock with little or nothing to grab on to. I’m sure in the Summer this would be tough but possible, but in the winter this was now well beyond my comfort zone. Once slip here and we would be ‘Brown Bread’ …Which is British Slang for dead.

If anything feels wrong or you aren’t happy in a situation you should turn back. This mantra has kept me alive in 25 years of diving and over a decade of flying.

So Shona and I did just that. We eased ourselves gently back down the path and I offloaded my potty mouth words to help lighten my load. A short walk back was a green blaze trail, that also led back to the car park and we followed it enjoying some sweeping disused roads with brick walls that were strangely soothing and pretty amid all the rain and terrifying sheer cliffs.

As we walked back to the car (and I ran out of naughty words) we talked and agreed that a number of small things had led to use being in more danger than needs be in a park that is safe and beautiful in the right conditions. We had planned a trail meticulously, then changed trail last minute because of the weather. We had gone out in bad weather and the fact that we didn’t see anyone else that day on the trail should have been a red flag. It was during a government shutdown so no Park Ranger was there and worse still we had no signal on that cliff section. The trail wasn’t at fault, we should never have been there in the first place and although we took the right decision to stop going on, we shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

At a nearby Tap house I sat with my hiking boots drying by the fire and we agreed that the day had been a very powerful lesson. Familiar though I am with being outdoors all round the world from The Sahara to Mongolia I know very little about the New England area, its trails or its weather conditions. In fact I am a total novice. My arrogance and enthusiasm was met with a Macedonia Brook bitch slap. I sipped my beer by the fire coyly like a naughty schoolboy.