A century of superb hiking at Peoples State Forest

Aug. 8—As friends and I trudged up, up, and up a twisting, boulder-strewn path, I was about to complain, “Who suggested this route?” when I remembered it was my idea. I kept my mouth shut.

There better be a great view at the top, I told myself.

I needn’t have fretted — our group soon learned that Peoples State Forest richly deserves its reputation for featuring some of the state’s most rewarding vistas.

“Wow!” Marco Barres exclaimed, after we finally reached Chaugham Lookout and gazed from an exposed ledge overlooking an expansive swath of the Farmington River Valley and Berkshire Hills. The verdant view more closely resembles Vermont or New Hampshire than its location in northwestern Connecticut, five miles south of the Massachusetts border. Also joining the hike were Maggie Jones, Phil Plouffe, Andy Lynn and Manuel Lizarralde.

Our nearly six-mile ramble also took us past a beaver meadow and through a lush forest of oaks, maples, pines and hemlocks, all the while serenaded by a diverse avian chorus that included pileated woodpeckers, scarlet tanagers and red-eyed vireos.

With three choices of trailheads, we started hiking on the blue-yellow Jesse Girard Trail near the park’s southeast corner off East River Road, and immediately veered left onto the blue-red Falls Cutoff Trail. Veteran hikers know that any trail named “Cutoff” likely will be rugged, and this one certainly met that description.

After crossing a brook that tumbled down a waterfall, we reconnected to Jesse Girard Trail, merged briefly with the Robert Ross Trail and then passed one small overlook before reaching Chaugham Lookout, sometimes called the Grand Vista, which faces the Farmington River Valley and points beyond.

It was the perfect spot to cool off, munch snacks, rehydrate, and simply stare at clouds. Nothing could be better.

With myriad options among 14 miles of trails and forest roads, we then followed a circuitous, clockwise route that eventually returned us to East River Road. Hikers can choose their own course by consulting an online trail map available at portal.ct.gov/-/media/deep/stateparks/maps/peoplespdf.pdf.

The forest also features a stone-faced nature center built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935 that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; and an impressive, 240-foot-boardwalk built in 2018 by volunteers from the Friends of American Legion and Peoples State Forest. We stood on a viewing platform at the end of this platform and watched a bald eagle circle over Beaver Brook Marsh before it settled on the branch of a juniper tree.

We can thank the Connecticut Forest & Park Association (CFPA) for not only helping clear and maintain these well-marked, well-thought-out paths, but for helping establish Peoples State Forest exactly 100 years ago.

Founded in 1895 as the state’s first private nonprofit conservation organization, CFPA launched a fundraising campaign to buy land for the forest, prompting donations from the Daughters of the American Revolution, Connecticut Federation of Women’s Clubs, and the general public. At the time, land was selling for $8 an acre.

Thus was born Peoples State Forest, which now measures 3,124 acres.

CFPA now manages Peoples’ paths as part of an 825-mile network of hiking trails throughout Connecticut.

Peoples connects to the south of American Legion State Forest, created in 1927 with a donation of 213 acres by the American Legion. The Depression-era CCC developed it as a park and campground in the 1930s.

Both parks are located in Barkhamsted, not far from a plethora of other, worthy hiking destinations, including Bear Mountain, a section of the Appalachian Trail and Sages Ravine.

All these natural attractions are about a two-hour drive from our neck of the woods in southeastern Connecticut — a bit of a haul, but worth the trip.