Granville State Forest

July 18, 2020 Sunny

This state forest is located in a remote area in the southwest part of the state near the border with Connecticut. It offers camping, hiking, and fishing, among other activities. It was the site of the Tunxis Native American tribe’s hunting and fishing grounds several hundred years ago. On the Connecticut side of the border there’s a Tunxis State Forest.

This area is pretty remote and there are no cell signals so be prepared and have a paper map or downloaded version of the trails at your side.

We were originally planning to follow the Hubbard River Trail the whole way, but had trouble finding the trailhead when we arrived. We ended up parking at the Halfway Brook Campground, which looked very pleasant.

We started on the Halfway Brook Trail, which we knew would join up with the Hubbard River Trail. Crossing a bridge from the campground, the trail descends gradually through a thick forest along a small brook strewn with boulders.

After about half a mile, we joined up with the Hubbard River. The water was a little low, but it offered a lot of boulders to hop around. We spent about 10 minutes here just exploring.

From here, we followed the river downstream on a shady and soft path. It drops about 450 ft in 2.5 miles, and our walk covered a good portion of this.

One interesting artifact we saw was an old “tank” of some kind, abandoned along the trail. How it got to this remote area and what it was remains a mystery.

The river forms a series of small cascades, pools, and other rock formations.

Since the trail is right along the river, it was easy for the kids to explore sections that interested them. This was one of the first sections that caught our eye.

A little farther down the river we found this enormous boulder with a cascade around it.

And farther still, near the point we turned around (by the Ore Hill Trail) we found a small waterfall over a series of steps.

Miles stopped to rest and dip his feet in the cool water, while the other kids walked back up the river, jumping from boulder to boulder to stay dry. We saw a few other people playing in the water as we followed the trail back.

Our family really enjoyed this state forest. The Hubbard River is really scenic and remote, with much more variety than I expected. I had never heard of this forest, but it’s a real hidden gem, and has a nice campground as well.

Interesting river with cascades and pools of clear water. A hidden gem.
Walking along the river is really fun.
Ryan was going to step on the tadpoles. Shame on you Ryan
There was a stream, and I jumped on the rocks.
There was a brook and it was fun to jump on the rocks. And there were some places we played on the rocks. But it was pretty steep going back.