Taking the Trail-Less-Travelled to Little Rock Pond
Jul 13th, 2009 by Jack
On a recent Saturday, I experienced the pleasures of taking the less used trail to a popular hiking destination, Little Rock Pond in Mt. Tabor. The hike was longer and a bit harder but the payoffs were a more enjoyable trail, better trail conditions, and a few nice view points. Also, if you’re looking for a quiet hike, I only saw 1 other hiker on the way to the Pond.
From the trailhead in Mt. Tabor, there are 2 possible trails to Little Rock Pond. The more direct and shorter is the popular 4-mile loop Little Rock Pond Trail (2 miles in to the pond). The lesser travelled alternative is the 6.5 mile loop Green Mountain Trail/Little Rock Pond Trail (4.5 miles in to the pond). (Refer to the individual Hidden Vermont write-ups of each of these trails for trailhead locations and descriptions.) If you have the time, the longer route is worth it.
From the trailhead parking lot, I took a well-marked trail called the Green Mountain Connector Trail that led through an easy open woods to, obviously, the Green Mountain Trail. Once the Green Mountain Trail was picked up, the hike took me gradually uphill along the west side of the mountains and ultimately to a summit on Green Mountain itself. (I must confess, I never knew the Green Mountain State Forest actually had a namesake Green Mountain.) There were a couple small view points along the trail that revealed the Danby and Wallingford areas to the east, and there was a very nice, open, stone summit that looked to the east over a wide expanse of Green Mountain State Forest and provided great views.
One highlight of this part of the hike was stirring up a bevy of quail, with the young ones struggling to get airborne while one adult used the “broken wing” strategy to distract the threat (me). A second was coming across a pile of fairly recent moose droppings. The slice of city-boy left in me always enjoys the thought of sharing woods with moose.
When I reached a pond overlook (about .9 mile from the pond), I found that it takes a bit of searching to actually find a clear space where you could in fact see the pond, and only about half of it at most. But on this clear day it was a nice view – I could just make out a couple of hikers taking a dip in the pond – and a good scenic photo op.
When I reached the pond it was late afternoon but still pretty warm and the setting sun provided nice lighting on purple irises that line the northern shore. There were a couple of young adults having fun jumping off rocks into the water but otherwise very peaceful. The “Little Rock” for which the pond is named lies along the western shore and provides a nice spot to sit and watch the goings on.
I spent some time talking with an interesting Long-trailer who was overnighting at the lean-to shelter near the pond: it’s been a wet hike for him so far (this being the wettest June in decades, they say) but he was in good spirits.
The trail loop continues from the pond directly to the trailhead (2 miles) and parking lot. It was pretty wet and sloppy but is an easy trail running along a stream.
With all my stops for photo-taking and viewpoints, and having spent maybe an hour at the pond, it was a 7-hour hike by the time I reached the car. 6.5 miles according to the trail map. Driving down the access road provided the day’s last treat – a black bear sprinted across the road about 25 yards in front of me.