Sessions woods located in Burlington Connecticut is has a focus on conservation education. With facilities for local school children, youth camping sites, and trails filled with educational information boards, we were expecting a lot.
The park has a single 2.6 mile loop trail that is intersected by several other shortcut trails and is very popular with locals. The "Beaver Pond" trail leads out to the aforementioned pond and then loops south to a fire tower and water fall before returning for one last view. I should have done more research before we came though as many of these sites were closed.
There was an abundance of wild life at the park, we stumbled on chipmunks, squirrels, toads and small birds everywhere. A large owl flew right over our heads before I had even assembled my camera! Unfortunately the beaver pond boardwalk is currently undergoing repairs. The second bird blind is also closed as is the fire tower. Just looking at the pond from a distance I can safely say that it was a busy spot, a blue heron, sparrows and more just out of range of my lens from the shore.
Located further down the trail is a water fall. I don't believe it's named, but it is well marked with signage and you won't have any trouble finding it if you pay attention. A large group of boyscouts turned onto the path to see the falls just before we arrived. I had to wait a while for a decent photo but this is one that isn't very photogenic.
The water falls between the rocks in several areas. The boys made it look easy to scale and climb all of the surrounding rocks but it all looked fairly steep. The overall drop here is less then 20 feet but no one section stands out as spectacular. This is not a fall you should go out of your way to pursue by itself.
continuing on the trail you begin to head back up hill for the rest of the journey.
Shortly before the end of the trail is the Summer House. A lovely spot to sit and take in the southern view of the hanging hills of Meriden.
Over all sessions woods contains many things to see and is worth a trip. The fact that everything was closed on our trip is my fault for lack of research. It definitely is on my list of places to return to in the future!
Comments