Abe Stone Park
A small walk with some giant boulders!
How long is the walk?
A one mile loop that goes around part of the pond and up and down a hill covered with giant boulders!
Some notes from my family's experience:
This is a perfect little walk for a day when you are not looking for a big hike but need to get the kids outside. The trail is only one mile, but we spent about 2.5 hours here between hiking, boulder climbing, and a little bit of playground time. This adventure is just the right size for about ages 3 - 8.
There is plenty of parking just outside the soccer fields. From there, go towards the bright blue Snack Shack and you will see the start of the trail around the pond just beyond the shack. Follow the orange arrow blazes until you are directly across the pond from the Snack Shack. From there, the trail splits into the loop that goes through the boulder field. We went left, and the trail goes steeply (but briefly) up hill and down hill as you explore and climb through the boulders. As you turn back downhill towards the pond, we found the trail hard to follow sometimes, mostly because the leaves were so deep on the trail. Just look carefully for the orange arrow blazes - the trail is marked the whole way, it just takes a little hunting to find some of the blazes.
You'll see the playground to your left as you come back down the hill. We stayed to the right on the trail to finish the hiking loop and then cut across the soccer fields for some playground time at the end of the hike.
More Information:
Abe Stone Park is in Cheshire,. Entering "Abe Stone Park" into Google Maps brought us to it. The pond is stocked for fishing several times each year and there are multiple ball fields and a basketball court. When we went on a late fall day we were the only ones there outside of a few dog walkers on the soccer fields. Summer days when the Snack Shack is open and folks are out fishing may be busier!
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