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Rec Path -
Detailed Description
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| Northern Half (Pine Lake to Oak Valley Trail) | |
 Mile 0: Trailhead
Parking is available at the pedestrian bridge over the dam on Pine Lake
(formerly Shelton Reservoir) on Shelton Avenue (Rt. 108). The nearest cross street is
Meadow Street. Cross the bridge and follow the path through the pines around the
back of Hope Lake.
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| Mile 0.18 Stay left, path to right leads to Senior Center and additional parking on Wheeler Street. |
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| Mile 0.30 Cross Meadow Street. The path is now paved and goes up a long but gentle slope through the woods. |
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| Mile 0.64 Pavement ends at intersection with school paths. Middle School is to the left; High School rear parking lot and tennis courts are to your right. Rec Path continues straight ahead. |
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| Mile 0.78 Cross Constitution Boulevard North. There is a sign kiosk and limited parking on the opposite side of the road. (The crossing is located halfway between Darryl Ellis Drive and the Middle School exit drive and is marked by yellow arrows on the road.) The next part of the Rec Path is blazed both yellow and white because is both the Rec Path and Turkey Trot Trail. |
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| Mile 0.91 Bear left with yellow blazes. Turkey Trot Trail (white) goes both straight ahead up the hill, and to left with the Rec Path. | |
| Mile 0.95 Sharp left onto first part of old dam. USE CAUTION ON THE DAM - WATCH SMALL CHILDREN. The remains of the old dam once held a sizeable reservoir, although you won't see any water near this part of the dam now. |
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Mile 1.13 Beginning of second part of old dam and Silent Waters access trail comes in
from the left off Constitution Blvd, crossing the Rec Path and leading down to the
reservoir. As of January 2007, a bridge has been placed over the dam spillway but the area is still under construction: safety railing and trail surfacing is needed. Yellow blazes will then be rerouted to top of dam. Until then, the trail officially follows the bottom of the dam, but you can easily walk along the top of the dam as well for views of silent waters. The dead trees and brush along the shore were caused when the city raised the water level, increasing the size of the reservoir. |
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| Mile 1.20 Alternate route to Shelton Ave [If you want to use the traffic signal at the corner of Constitution Blvd and Shelton Ave, turn left just before the foot bridge. This alternate route is not blazed. Follow the crosswalk markings towards a small white house. After crossing Shelton Ave, walk up the side of the road until you see a yellow blaze to your left. This is the route we use when we have large groups of people. ] | |
| Mile 1.26 Sharp left off of main pathway to cross road - look carefully for yellow blazes at the end of the dam (if you are following the top of the dam, then just go straight across 108) | |
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Mile 1.29 Cross Shelton Ave (Route
108).
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| Mile 1.37 Dominick Trail enters on the left, orange blazes. If you are using the Bridge to Bridge route to Huntington Center you would leave the Rec Path here. | |
| Mile 1.40 Dominick Trail exits straight while the Rec Path bears left. Pass through stand of tall spruce trees. | |
| Mile 1.65 Go left onto Oak Valley Trail and old utility road. Chant "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!" as you go through the Mountain Laurel tunnel. |
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Mile 1.82 Turn right off of the utility road and leave Oak Valley Trail. |
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Mile 1.92 Northern half of the trail ends in a "T" junction with Oak Valley Trail. The northern half of the trail ends here for now. Future land purchases may allow us to connect the northern and southern halves of the trail. Until then, use other trails to get to the rest of the trail (see below).
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| Southern Half (Dominick/Nell's Rock Trails to Huntington Center) |
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| 0.0 "4-Corners" intersection of three trails. Dominick is marked orange, the Rec Path is marked yellow and Nell's Rock Trail is white. Follow old woods road to the powerline corridor. (The 4-corners trail intersection is located west of the Nell's Rock Parking area across the street from L'Hermitage Condominiums). | |
| 0.29 Turn left and follow the powerline corridor |
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0.35
Turn right onto Lizard
Lane |
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| 0.5 (approximate) Cross Lizard Lane Bridge. Letterboxers have reported Elvis sightings nearby. | |
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0.6 (approximate) Crab Apple Circle access trail on right.
Pass "Lizard Head Rock" on your
right (photo). |
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| 0.76 Cross Wesley Drive at intersection with Scotch Pine Lane. Immediately after you cross the road, a side trail to your left leads to a secluded corner complete with a ten foot waterfall and caves, although the waterfall tends to dry up in the summer. The side trail is only 100 yards long. |
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1.10 Cross sewer easement
(grassy) |
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1.21 Cross Wesley Drive again
at "Huntington Woods" sign. Follow gravel road
(emergency fire access) straight ahead for a few hundred yards. Focus
on the blazes here! |
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1.30
Turn left off the gravel
road, behind a new house, staying
close to stone wall on left, and enter woods.
You can also choose the
"executive route" and follow the gravel road directly to Lane Street, which goes
to Huntington Center. |
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1.58 Enter large meadow. This property is owned
by the Shelton Land Conservation Trust. Follow the edge of the meadow on your left.
Below the meadow is Means Brook and a series of dense wooded
swamps created by beaver. This is some of the best wildlife habitat in the City. You
can hear the sound of traffic from Huntington Street in the distance. |
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1.77 Cross boardwalk over wooded swamp and enter second meadow.
Stay to the left. |
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1.86 Enter woods |
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1.92
Turn left onto Lane Street. The rest of
the trail is not blazed. Pass the cemetery, a small parking lot, and cross a
pedestrian bridge over Means Brook. Note: if you are trying to find this
turn coming from the reverse direction, it is located about 100 feet past the
cemetery drive and just before #31 Lane Street. |
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2.07 Turn right onto Huntington Street near the Fire Station. Food
and drink is available at Huntington Street Cafe soon after turning onto Huntington
Street, as well as Beechwood Supermarket, The Donut Inn, Vincent's Pizza, Portobello,
Pagliaro's Lunch, Sassafrass, and others. The Community Center, Library and Post Office
are across Huntington Street. |
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2.37 Rec Path officially ends at the pedestrian bridge
over Means
Brook near St. Lawrence Church, the Gulf gas station, and Huntington Hardware. |
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