During the past summer season, the Friends of Willard Brook created a new loop trail in Willard Brook State Park (WBSP). It is 2.3 miles long and starts and ends in the WBSP parking lot. The loop trail provides varied terrain and views including streams, pine groves, laurel thickets, granite ledges, Casper and his cave, a boulder that looks like a frog and great places to picnic.

The new loop trail is shown in yellow below. The Black route is the dirt road that goes through WBSP. The Blue and Green routes are the existing Blue and Friend’s trails respectively. Here is the legend for the map of the new trail:

DP Parking - Start in the Damon Pond parking lot going toward Pearl Hill State Park

on the Friends Trail (The Friends Trail is marked with Yellow placards)

001 - Small field on the Friends Trail

002 - Boarded up spring house

003 - @ 0.5 mi. the new loop trail splits left from the Friends Trail (The new loop is

marked with Orange placards.)

004 - Take a hard right to follow the trail down through the laurel thicket;

don’t go on the camp road.

005 - Bear right at the fork in the trail

006 - Follow the Orange placards to weave through lovely laurel, pine, and oak.

Also notice the interesting granite boulders.

007 - When you pass a large boulder that is perpendicular to the granite ledge you are

hiking on, turn around and look at it to see a frog’s head shape.

008 - Keep your eyes open here for Casper standing near the entrance to his cave.

This is a great picnic spot too.

009 - There are pink streamers on a couple of trees here to mark an overlook. This

beautiful spot is about half way around the loop.

010 - Hop a stream, go through the dense laurels, and then the trail passes between

the "V" of two pair of tall trees.

011 - Don’t miss the view to your right as you walk along the ridge here.

012 - This is a great spot for a picnic on the large granite boulders covered with edible

reindeer moss.

013 - Beware here, there are lots of cobble stone sized rocks that may be hidden under

leaves on this slope down to the park’s dirt road. Cross over the road

and then turn left to stay on the loop trail. This section of the Orange

loop trail is also shared with the existing blue trail.

014 - The Orange trail splits left here as the hypotenuse across a corner in the existing

Blue trail. The Orange trail is on higher ground and avoids an often

wet rocky sloped part of the Blue trail.

015 - Join the Blue trail again here to go through another laurel thicket.

016 - If you look to your right here you will see a spur in the Blue trail that goes down

to Willard Brook and the lower Blue trail.

017 - Off to your left you will see a Blue connector trail that connects the Blue/Orange

trail with the Friend’s trail.

018 - To your left you will see a path up a very steep hill that goes up to the WBSP

camping/picnic grounds.

DP Parking - Less than 0.05 mi further you will find yourself back where you started in

the Damon Pond parking area.