Steve Fagin: Enduring Pachaug's Enduro Trail -- on foot

May 2—"The trail is muddy and rough, so wear boots with plenty of support," Marco Barres advised, adding, "Make sure you bring a trekking pole — you'll need it."

One other warning: "Be ready to jump out of the way if a rider comes roaring around the bend. They can't always see you on a curve."

We were preparing to hike a section of the 58-mile Enduro Trail in eastern Connecticut's Pachaug State Forest, one of the few places in the state where motorcyclists can legally ride off-road.

I've never driven a motorcycle on a paved road, let alone a dirt path, and have no immediate plans to do so. When exploring a forest, I prefer to get around on two feet rather than two wheels. It's quieter that way, less intrusive on plants and animals.

But having crossed the Enduro Trail while hiking through Pachaug on more than one occasion, I've always been curious about it.

So I asked Marco to suggest a route. A member of the Friends of Pachaug Forest who joins volunteer trail maintenance crews, he has hiked just about every path and dirt road in the 26,477-acre tract that extends through Voluntown, Sterling, Plainfield, Griswold, North Stonington and Preston.

"There's so many different types of terrain here," he said, "sheer ledges, valleys, rocky overlooks, meadows, evergreen forests ..." While the Enduro may be too rugged for some hikers' tastes, it does pass interesting features not visible on hiker-only trails, Marco noted.

Instead of visiting the trail on a weekend afternoon, when motorcyclists are more likely to ride, we planned our outing on a midweek morning.

Marco wasn't concerned.

"I've never had a problem. They've always slowed down to let me pass," he said. Hikers are allowed on the Enduro, but motorcyclists aren't allowed on hiking trails. ATVs and four-wheelers aren't permitted on the Enduro.

We started out on unpaved Legend Wood Road in North Stonington, accessible from Johnson Road off Route 49, just north of the First Baptist Church. Marco relied on his memory to navigate a course, supplemented by an out-of-print paper map.

In a short distance, after crossing Myron Kinney Brook, we passed an intersection of the blue-blazed Narragansett Trail. We bypassed this hikers-only footpath and continued west on Legend Wood another quarter mile before turning north onto a rutted, rocky forest road. A white, diamond-shaped sign containing a red arrow was screwed to a tree.

"This is it: The Enduro Trail," Marco announced.

As promised, there was plenty of mud, several ruts more than a foot deep, and an abundance of jumbled, ankle-twisting rocks. Marco gave me a "don't-say-I-didn't-warn-you" look while he skirted a puddle that was more like a small pond.

I followed in his tracks, but my right foot slid off a rock, and I wound up stepping in ooze halfway to my knee. At least I didn't tumble in.

After slogging along for a mile or so, we detoured off the Enduro Trail onto unpaved Coal Pit Road, then retraced our steps back to the Enduro Trail in order to explore the remnants of a stone house that was slowly being consumed by forest understory and vines.

We took a circuitous route back to our cars that included a short walk on paved Hodge Pond Road before rejoining the Enduro Trail. We never encountered any motorcyclists, or, for that matter, any other hikers. With all the twists and turns, we wound up rambling about eight miles.

"Well, I got that out of my system," I said. It had been an interesting hike, but I think from now on, I'll leave the Enduro to motorcycles.

Marco, on the other hand, is already planning to return, having noticed one small, unmarked trail that he hadn't hiked previously. He wondered: where does it go, and how far?

"I'll find out another time," he said.