159 Macedonia Brook Road
Kent, CT 06757
Website: https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/State-Parks/Parks/Macedonia-Brook-State-Park
Activities: Hiking, Leaf Peeping
Last Visit: October, 2020
Notes: Please take note of the Rock Scramble.
An amazing place for a fall hike with great views of the surrounding countryside. We hiked nearly the entire Blue Loop; parking at the Camp Office, we took the Yellow trail and then hiked the Blue in a counter-clockwise direction – it was about 6.7 miles.
The park is close to Kent, CT – a very pretty little New England Countryside town that is now filled with trendy (and expensive) galleries and eateries. We were going to stop for some coffee and pastries on the way out but the whole town was absolutely swarming with people! So take note if you plan on visiting with your hike – it gets very crowded on pleasant fall days.
Rock Scramble: If you go to the AllTrails review of this hike, you will see warnings of a difficult rock scramble section of the loop hike. These are not exaggerated. There is a very steep and rocky elevation change to be negotiated, including two 4-5 foot ledges that must be scaled up. Our pupper is a “big, strong, sturdy girl” – but she still needed two big boosts at those sections and ended up with a scraped up leg (I carry a human & doggy first aid kit in my day pack and recommend you do the same). If you have a smaller dog that can be lifted up or down, then it will be no problem. But bigger dogs will need to be OK with getting pushed/pulled over the ledges. It’s not impossible, but it’s difficult. Going up seems to be easier for the dogs than going down. You can avoid the scramble all together by doing an “out-and-back” hike to the summit of Cobble Mountain along the “Macedonia Ridge Trail.” Frankly, the Ridge Trail was the most scenic part of the park other than the the tip of Hilltop Pond (which can be reached by car for a quick scenic stop if you wish).
