Letterboxing Adventure at Goodwin State Forest

  Around the Pond and through the Woods….

If you are starting from Providence or Hartford, take Route 6. Goodwin State Forest is located in Hampton, Connecticut. There is a sign on the highway that says "James L. Goodwin State Forest". Turn here onto Potter Road, a road lined with the state flower Mountain Laurel As you drive down the road you will pass a sign on your right that says, "James L. Goodwin Conservation Center", and on your left a backyard arboretum to enjoy before or after your adventure. On the right you will come to a small parking lot, park there.

Across the street from the parking lot is a small gray house with a sign above the door that says "Nature Center". Stand on the stone steps and locate the picnic pavilion. From the picnic pavilion take a compass heading of 60 degrees and proceed 29 paces. You will now be at a big brown gate. Follow the dirt path after it. As you follow the path you will come close to the highway and then the pond. You will see two small bridges, cross them. Now you are entering the woods.

Look around - you will see medium height pine trees and lots of roots - don't trip. The trail stays near the water, watch out for holes in the ground. Keep following the white trail. Don't be fooled - stay near the water. Keep your eyes on the lake for duck houses and beaver lodges. Soon you will encounter rocks covered with moss and lichen. Stay focused your journey is only beginning. Stop and find where the beavers have been busy. Walk up the slope and enjoy the view of thepond. Find the only long needle pine tree near the water. From there take a compass heading of 320 degrees and continue to follow the white blazes in that direction. Immediately you will cross a great landmark, an old dirt road (Cedar Swamp Road). Continue on the white blazed trail. Be on the lookout for a huge, blazed v-shaped oak tree. From there take a compass heading of 74 degrees and continue on the trail. Hang in there you are almost to letterbox 1. Soon you will spy the state flower (Mountain Laurel). Continue on until you find two major trails that cross - X marks the spot (the trails).

From the center of the two trails take a compass reading of 270 West. Turning in that direction, walk straight ahead and take this extension off the main trail. Keep going straight along the path with swampy bushes on either side of you. When you come to the end of the straight away, if you have a good nose, you might smell the pine. Keep walking. The lake will appear in the distance. Proceed closer to the lake. You will see a double blazed tree. From this double blazed pine tree take a compass heading of 250. Proceed to a man-made lookout. Take another compass heading of 77 ENE. In that direction, take 9 paces from the bottom of the steps. Use your instinct to find letterbox one under a square rock. Once found, proceed back to the X. Now you are on your way to letterbox two.

From here take a heading of 24 and follow the white blazes. Go on and you will see lots of Mountain Laurel. Look for trees with yellow property marks. Keep following the white blazes. You will know you are going in the right direction when you see the following landmarks; a rocky area, white arrow painted on a tree and a "W" shaped oak tree. You will see a rocky area and depending on the season there will be water. Walk a little and you will see the path widen. Keep following the white blazes. You will notice a stone wall is parallel to the pat. Another land mark is a man made culvert that you can walk over. The trail comes to a turn. Take a left, following the white blazes, and take a compass heading of 315. Go down a hill and you will see lots of pine trees. Follow the white blazes to the road.

At the paved road, take a compass heading of 40 NE and proceed to the road in that direction. Look for the parallel stone walls on your left. Take a compass heading of 20 and proceed between them. Look for a tree in the center of the trail. A short distance later, there is a blazed white tree and then a large boulder. After finding these landmarks, go east from the boulder down a natural tunnel of trees. When you come to your first fork in the path, take the trail north. Follow that path until it divides between two trees, the first tree has a double blaze. There is a turn in the path that reads 280 (you are still on the path). You will be going down a hill. If you are in the correct location, the Airline Trail will be on your right (gravel road).

Look ahead of you for a tree with an orange piece of plastic on it. You'll want to get on the Airline trail but don't. You have to find the letterbox first. Turn to your left and look a little up the hill to find a large boulder. On the boulder take a compass heading of 270 W. Rejoin the trail and take 7 paces. Then turn North so that you're facing the Airline trail. Look for a Maple tree with many trunks being hugged by a boulder. There you will find four small rocks placed in a mound. The 4 small rocks may be covered with fallen leaves so you may need to brush them away. Congratulations you have found our letterbox.

Go back to the large boulder. Proceed down the slope onto the railroad bed. Travel west on the Airline trail (railroad bed). You will know you are going in the right direction if you see ponds on either side. Proceed to a green metal gate. Go past the gate. Then you will come to a road. Go straight across the road and you will travel up a rocky, dirt hill. Proceed to the brown gate and go past it. On that straight away continue walking for 35 or 40 minutes. Keep your eyes open, watching for blue, the turn off is near.

On your left you will see a huge dead tree that looks like it had dead arms reaching down to you… it has a blue blaze on it. The path goes off at a 110 bearing following the blue blazes. Always keep the lake on your left side following the blue blazes. About half way down the trail you will come to a leaning tree that forms a bridge for you to pass under. There are two blue blazes on the tree, followed by four bog bridges that you have to cross after it. A little further down the trail you will come across a root structure about 12 feet high and 16 feet wide. Further down the trail you see a second beaver lodge, a lookout house, followed byseven bog bridges. The dock is on your left. You've made it! To find your car, go up the hill past the outhouses. We hope you enjoyed the trail.

This Letterboxing Adventure was created by 48 Windham Middle School 6th graders as part of EASTCONN's Challenges/Learn & Serve Program facilitated by Donna Drasch, ddrasch@eastconn.org. Challenges/Learn & Serve is a grant-supported program of consultation and technical assistance for teachers interested in integrating service-learning into their curriculum.