Dates visited: 8/20/2020 & 8/21/2020

The Hop River Trail goes in an out of Columbia and Coventry a couple of times, as both it and Rt. 6 seem to pass through the corners of these towns in this area. The stretches in Columbia were on the boring side, compared to the Andover segment. This was the first time there was real access to the Hop River, for which the trail was named after. Also, there is a segment of the trail that is closed here, with a detour on some roads.

Date visited: 5/19/2021

The Utley Preserve is another Joshua Land Trust Property. This is a nice series of trails. They are well maintained and marked. We hiked the yellow blazed loop trail, and added on the blue loop for about 2 1/2 miles total. The notable feature here is the amount of stone walls. Lots of them! The beginning of the trail is right up against private property, and from the looks of the sign posted, it's propaby not a good idea to trespass!

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Date visited:3/20/2023

This is a small state park. It's so small, the sign calls it a recreation area, not a park. At any rate, the state land is the area east and south of Mono Pond. It's a nice pond that was quite scenic, even at the very end of winter (It was the first day of spring, but it didn't start officially until 5:24 PM, and we were here a couple hours before that). There's a trail that runs along side the pond. I was amazed that the trail was dry, that is until it wasn't. About half way through, the trail was completely washed out. I couldn't find a way around the flooded area...at least not with the dogs! So we didn't finish the trail. I was also surprised at the number of flying gnats, considering it wasn't even spring yet. Still it was a very nice day, and the pond was lovely, so it wasn't a bad way to spend a half hour or so with the dogs.

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