Date visited: 8/18/2023

We've been taking it easy this week. Lexi has had some back issues, but she was doing much better today, so we went for a short walk at this park. We had actually visited this park five years ago. It was very overgrown and didn't look that well maintained then, but it seems much nicer now. You can tell Lexi was feeling better. At one point, she was stalking the ducks in the pond! We circled the pond using the short trail, the grassy area, and the sidewalk along Route 83. The park was wet today. There were thunderstorms in the area early this morning. We were here in the evening, so I was surprised that parts of the park were flooded. We were able to mostly navigate around the wet areas, and walked about a mile here.

Date visited: 10/2/2020

I drove by this multi-use trail daily on my way to and from work for years, and didn't even know it was there. This paved path runs behind the businesses on Shaker Rd in East Longmeadow. It's your standard rail-trail. There are plans to expand it north and south along the railroad path. This is the same railway that passes south through Enfield, East Windsor, South Windsor and East Hartford. I would love the trail to be extended south along this path, but the railway still seems to be in use in some of those towns.

Date visited: 6/5/2024

East Longmeadow was once home to over 100 stone quarries, and this conservation area is on the site of one of them. It must have been newly added to the All-Trails app, since I did not know about it before this day. The trail is accessed behind Chestnut Hill nursing home. The beginning of the trail is on a mowed path along a power line cut-out, until you reach the woods. At this point, there is a sign for the trail as it enters the woods. The trail is not blazed, and there are some confusing side trails, so it's a good idea to keep an on-line GPS enabled map handy. There are some log bridge stream crossings, and also a treat for the dogs about half way through. There is a jar of dog treats hanging from a tree that someone left. (We had our own treats, so we left them for others). Shortly after that, the trail reaches the site of the old quarry. There's a massive chasm that is filled with water. The pictures don't really show the enormity of it. There's a really sharp drop off at some points, so it's smart to stay away from the edge! The path of the trail on the All-Trails app was a little off, because if you followed the route exactly, you would need to fly to be able to cross the chasm! There is a trail around it though. This was definitely a more interesting adventure than I thought it would be, as I've been really bored with woodsy hikes of late. This one was worth doing!

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