Papermill Park (Hampden)
With showers yesterday, a winter storm warning forecast for the afternoon, and shopping for food and a Christmas tree in between, there was not much time today for a hike so I headed to nearby Papermill Park in Hampden. This is a small but scenic riverside park with a beautiful waterfall. There is a trail that runs downstream adjacent to the river, and I decided to see how far it went. After around 6/10 of a mile (from the parking lot to the falls, and then heading downstream from the falls), the trail went from being a heavily traveled relatively wide trail to a narrow trail, which then diffused into game trails. I went a little further before encountered a flooded section, at which point I turned back. The total hike was one mile (map here ). Despite only being a mile, this was an enjoyable hike, although I did get two ticks on me when I went off trail on game trails.
