Collis P. Huntington State Park Letterboxes

(W. Redding, Connecticut)

Planted by Linda & Bob on 10/15/02

Easy to Moderate walk on wide trails.  4 letterboxes on a 3.1-mile figure 8 loop.

To find the main entrance to Collis P. Huntington State Park, turn onto Sunset Hill Rd. in West Redding from Rt. 58.  The park is .7 miles on your right with an ample parking lot.  The park closes at sunset.  Two beautiful statues sculpted by Anna Hyatt Huntington grace the entrance to this beautiful park.

Pick up a map if you would like at the information station.  Most of the trails are marked, but the markings are not very close together.  The trails are obvious for the most part, so you shouldn’t have any problems.  All degrees markings are from compass magnetic north.

Follow the well-worn trail past the information station down the hill through the field.  At the bottom of the hill, turn left onto an unmarked wide trail.  You will soon be on the blue trail heading north.  Fields will be on your left.  Soon after going through an old metal fence, turn right, heading east, onto the white trail.  You will pass a lake on you left.  After you pass the lake for the second time, you will come to a T intersection.  Go 120 degrees on the orange trail.  From the first boulder you come to on the right (about 3 feet high) the 1^st letterbox position is in sight.  Facing away from the boulder, bushwack 25 paces at 70 degrees up a small hill.  At the V tree, go 5 steps to a triple maple tree.  The first letterbox is hidden under the East end under the small rock outcropping.  Stamp and carefully re-hide.

Backtrack to the T intersection.  Now head 30 degrees on the orange trail.  A lake will be on your left.  At the bottom of the hill, you will see another pond.  Turn right onto the orange trail walking on the south side of the pond.  At the end of the pond you will see a fork, turn 36 degrees and walk across a small wooden bridge.  You are now on the green trail.  About 20 feet before the rusted gate, go north on the white trail.  This trail is not very well marked, so more detailed directions will follow.  Directly before the brook, go uphill over a rock outcropping.  The brook is on your right.  Now cross the brook by the dam heading NW up the hill.  The white trail will soon take you to another small parking lot.  Walk along the right edge of the parking lot for a short distance.  It is now time to head NE on the blue trail.  After you pass the fiber-optic line (like a gas pipeline), you will soon approach a very large rock outcropping on your left, approximately 35 feet tall.  While facing the rock, notice the location of the black birch tree, on the right, touching the rock.  Bushwack around the NW side of the rock to the top.  Head to the SE corner of the rock by the noted black birch tree.  Where the rocks have a one-foot gap, look underneath the overhanging rock to find the Bear Letterbox, letterbox #2.  Stamp and carefully re-hide.

Continue east on the blue trail.  Other trails will intersect, but just stay on the blue.  Eventually, you will come to an intersection where the blue trail goes right and left, and the white trail heads straight ahead.  You will know you are in the correct location if you see a 10 foot by 20 foot pit in front of you.  It is here that you will wander off the blue trail to find the Mica Mine and the Wolf Letterbox.  At the pit, head SE on the white trail, passing the DD mark on your left.  The uphill trail will be filled with mica as you approach the mica mine.  At the top of the hill (you will see several mica pits), go briefly NE and then E following an unmarked trail up a hill to a large 3 ridged large rock overlooking a mica quarry.  The unmarked trail now heads NNE on the NW ridge of the quarry through a mountain laurel grove.  At the NE end of the quarry, cross over a natural rock bridge.  Look for a sizable quadruple trunked tree.  Proceed 15 steps along the ridge in a southern direction.  Find a 3-foot tall quartz and mica rock with a blasting hole in the northern corner.  The Wolf letterbox is under the southern corner of this rock.  Stamp and carefully replace.  Retrace your steps through the Mica Mine section back to the pit/blue trail intersection.

Once you reach the pit, turn left onto the blue trail.  At the fiber optics EE pole, continue E on the blue trail scrambling up and down several times on this wide trail.  This is the hardest part of the trail, but it isn’t too bad.  After passing pole 277, but before the next pole, turn right in a SW direction at the bottom of the hill onto the green trail;  pass over a wooden bridge.  Take a right at the tree with an E placard onto the orange trail.  At the Y intersection, continue on the orange trail, which brings you on the east side of the 2^nd lake.  At the next Y intersection, go SE on the orange trail which will take you past the first letterbox.  At the bottom of the hill, turn south onto the blue trial.  You will go over yet another wooden bridge.  While strolling along a welcome flat section of the blue trail, you will not miss the 6 trunk silver beech tree on the left side of the trail.  From this magnificent tree, go due east 20 paces to a 5-foot rock off the trail.  The Horse Letterbox is planted sideways on the north side of this rock between the main rock and a smaller connecting rock.  Stamp and re-hide.

Continue east on the blue marked trail.  The trail narrows and appears to disappear, but the blue marks are not far to find.  When in doubt, take a few lefts.  That will be the way to go.  Soon you will see a major unmarked trail, which if you take to the left and go south towards the field, will bring you right back at your car.  We hope you had an enjoyable experience.