Witches Den

Mattabesett Trail, Durham CT




Hello fellow hikers. We have decided to place our first letterbox. The
Witches Den letterbox will be a cinch to find. It is located at the Witches
Den (go figure), a place on the Beseck section of the Mattabesett trail.
(Okay, everybody get out your blue book. Turn to page 39 and map 19. Oh, by
the way, the name "Witches Den" does not appear on any map since it is a name
that I gave the place the first time I saw it.)

You start the hike from the intersection of routes 68 and 157 in Durham. The
easiest way to get there is to take exit 15 off I91 and head east on Rt 68.
About 2 miles down the road and about 1/4 mile past the Wallingford/Durham
town line you will arrive at Rt 157 where you will find ample parking. The
trail enters the woods about .1 mile west of Rt 157 (yes back the way you
came) on Rt 68, but you will be able to pick up the blue blazes right from
the parking area. (You will be heading north on the trail).

After entering the woods on the right the trail crosses railroad tracks and
then starts up hill. Follow the blazes carefully and faithfully. There are
several trails that join, leave and sometimes short cut the trail. (Damned
ATVs, grumble grumble … Sorry). At about 1.75 miles out (about 50 minutes at
2 mph) you will reach the Witches Den. (You will know it when you see it.)
If you haven’t reached the power lines, you haven’t gone far enough. On the
way you will be treated to several warmly-lit wooded areas, interesting rocky
hills, nice cliff walks and a few "PUD"s. (We will tell you what a PUD is
when you reach the box.)

Now to find the letterbox. First, stand in the caldron. Okay there is no
caldron… so stand where the caldron would be if there was a caldron. And no,
if there is a fire going you don’t have to stand in the fire. Look 90 degrees
from magnetic north; in other words, stand with your back to Bristol Myers
(the big building in the middle of the view). You should see several
different rock outcroppings each looking like they would be good homes for
letterboxes in the hill you just came down. Ours is just less than ½ way up
the hill. It isn’t deeply hidden, just well enough so that when the witches
gather, they will have no idea that it is there. After finding the box you
can take it back to the meeting area where you can have a seat while stamping
in.

Now you have 2 choices. Turn around and head back to your car (boring) or
continue forward past Powder Ridge Ski area to your friend’s car that you so
cleverly stashed at the Mount Higby parking lot on Rt 66. It will be about
4.25 miles, but, you will get some awesome views along the way especially as
you do the ridge walk above Black Pond.