HAPPY IN THE HOLLOW
A fun visit to East Haddam for waterfalls, mountain laurel, rock formations
The bottom line: A hike in the woods past the waterfalls of Roaring Brook, Sheepskin Hollow Pond with its banks lined with mountain laurel and into rocky chasms. Difficulty level: Easy to moderate.
Total mileage: There are approximately 3 miles of trails through the hollow. Visit https://www.ehlt.org/sheepskin-hollowpreserve for a map of the preserve.
Directions: Route 9 to Exit 7 (Route 82). Follow Route 82 across the Connecticut River for several miles and turn left on Mount Parnassus Road shortly at Shagbark Lumber and Farm Supply. Follow several miles and take a right on Sheepskin Hollow Road or travel farther east on Mount Parnassus and take a right on Warner Road and right on Ridgebury Road.
Parking: There is a small parking area along Sheepskin Hollow Road and also along Woodmont Circle and Ridgebury Road.
Pet-friendly? Dogs need to be leashed and cleaned up after.
Connecticut is no fun.
At least that’s what a survey by WalletHub.com determined, when it said recently the Constitution State was the eighth least fun state in the country for its “entertainment and recreation.” California was declared the most fun, and West Virginia received the dreaded designation of least fun state.
Shortly after I heard about the survey, I found myself exploring East Haddam’s Sheepskin Hollow Preserve. I hiked under towering white pines, down to a wooden bridge with a view of Roaring Brook cascading noisily over rock ledges and tumbling below me around huge boulders. Farther along the trail, I discovered a jumble of boulders and granite outcroppings with a stream and waterfalls seemingly magically appearing from the rocks.
Just another day exploring “no fun” Connecticut.
Sheepskin Hollow is a 119-acre preserve that offers a walk through a hardwood forest to a swamp that’s home to an active beaver colony. According to local legend, at one time an entire team of horses was lost in the swamp. Today, thanks to the beavers, the swamp is more of a pond than quagmire.
According to town historian Karl Stofko, the area got its name from a thriving tannery business during the late 1700s and early 1800s. With the rocky topography in this area of town, farmers raised sheep and operated tanneries. One tannery operating north of the preserve used sumac on the hides, which produced a finer-quality leather that was used in women’s shoes and slippers.
There are a series of blazed trails that take visitors through the preserve with the blue and white marked paths, leading through the heart of the preserve. The blue trail takes visitors from the parking area across a huge trail bridge over Roaring Brook.
A red-blazed path takes visitors to the banks of the pond, connecting with the white-blazed trail that takes visitors around the pond that is lined with mountain laurel. There are tremendous views of the pond and its beaver lodges.
The white trail eventually reconnects to the blue trails bringing visitors past the rocky chasms. The trust says that wildlife seen at the preserve include barred owls, wild turkeys, hawks, deer, beaver, mink, weasels and muskrats.
So fellow nutmeggers, don’t listen to surveys that say your state is no fun. There’s plenty of fun out there in the natural world waiting to be discovered. Survey says? Go out and explore this wonderful state of ours. And have fun.