Dragon

Difficulty: Clues – Easy. Hike – Easy to moderate. Four miles, much on old roads, approx. one of the miles is single track that can be muddy. OK for mountain bikes.

Background: This is located in the Burlingame Management area on the north side of Buckeye Brook Road. Hunting is allowed (and popular) here so make sure that you wear orange from late October through March.

Directions: From Rt 1 Southbound: Take the King's Factory Road exit to the right. In just over 2-1/2 miles the road turn left at the intersection with Shumunkanuk Hill Road. Approximately 1/4 mile later turn left on Buckeye Brook Road. The parking area will be a short ways down to the right. From Prosser Trail - Burlingame Picnic area. Turn left on Prosser Trail; continue on until it feeds into King's Factory as described above. If northbound on Rt 1 turn left on Rt 216. Turn right on Buckeye Brook Road in 2-1/2 miles. The parking lot will be on your left in 1.9 miles.

The hike starts off on the North-South trail after it leaves the Vin Gormley trail, north of Buckeye Brook Road. Take the trail leading off on the other side of the barway. After a short ways you may notice an old grassy road leading off to the left. Stay right on the better traveled dirt road. Keep your eyes peeled for the blue blazes that mark the North-South trail. At approximately ľ mile the path crosses over Buckeye Brook. On the right set back in the trees you will see an old stone dam set back in part of a natural ridge. Go back and inspect the dam. Approximately 15 feet in front and to the right (east) of the dam is a large tree. Directly behind it in the ridge is a large split rock. Check the under the near side of the rock for your first glimpse..

Return to the trail and continue in the direction you were headed in. The road will fork into 3 ahead. The right fork heads off Burlingame property, the center leads to a pond and the left is the continuation of the North-South trail. Stay on the NS trail as it winds through the hardwoods and generally up. This is actually Shumunkanuc Hill - not much of a hill but then Charlestown is not known for its hills... With an old stone wall to your left, the road will fork ahead, with the NS trial leading off to the right. Continue straight on the white blazed trail as it winds to the left around the turn in the stone wall. The road will split with the white blazes heading right. As you start to turn right you will notice a beech tree with a single white blaze on your right exactly in the center of the turn. Look low to the left of the tree behind the corner stone for the next piece of the puzzle.

The trail starts to drop down to the right as it heads towards the Wood River and the Burlingame canoe campsites. This is a great section of the river that is ideal for paddling and fishing and is well used. Unfortunately time and frequent campers have not always been kind to the area. The first campsite you come to is high on the bank over the river and has a great rope swing over the river. Follow the footpath above the bank to the left and head up the large gully into the next campsite. Take the trail out of the south out of the campsite and you will come to a 'T' at the white blazed road. If you have come out at the correct spot then the white blazed trail leaves the road and turns onto a footpath directly ahead.

At this point the trail becomes rather tricky to find. To be sure that you are at the correct spot look to the left down the road to find a white blazed tree. Go to the tree and turn around and look back the way you came. You should see the trail leave the road and turn to the left (135o), becoming single track, and heading into the woods. Keep following the white blazes. This section of the trail is not very well used and can be difficult to follow. Several minutes later the landscape becomes greener with more growth underfoot and ferns appear. Soon you will come upon a stone wall. Look low on the near side of the wall as it heads to the right (west) approximately five feet from the break for the third box. Is the picture coming clearer?

The next section of the trail can be very muddy and is not well maintained. It continues on for close to a mile before it becomes sandy and heads up hill to the next intersection. At the gravel road turn right and head back in the direction of your car. You will cross over Buckeye Brook again and there will be another dam off in the trees to your left. A few yards after you cross the brook turn left and take 14 paces towards the dam. Look up to your right. At the top of the rise you will see the large stump from a tree that was cut down several years ago. Check the rock cairn on the far side of the stump for the final piece of the puzzle. Your book cover should now be complete. Return to the trail and head back to your car. Ignore the one branch off to the left (unless you want to do the loop over again) and continue straight until you are back at your car.

Before setting off be sure to read the waiver of responsibility and disclaimer.

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