Hidden Valley Gravle

My first Gravle ride on the Fredmobile was in May 2013 and my goal this year was to ride as much Gravle in preparation for D2R2.  While I have ridden Steep Rock quite a few times I had never ridden the Hidden Valley Section.  Of course my fascination with this area and the train line that ran through keeps drawing me back again and again and it was because of this I learned that there was a branch line created that went to New Preston and the shores of Lake Waramug.

 My ride started out from Roxbury Market and it was lightly raining, and of course I forgot to bring a fender.  I headed up Walker Brook Road and eventually over to Route 202.  Heading down Rt 47 was when I figured out that this had to be the original roadbed for the New Preston Branch line.  It's not marked on any maps available on line but judging from the road grade and some interesting abutments near the intersection with Route 202, this had to be the route that the New Preston Branch line took!

Coming from Route 47 the old road bed is hard to navigate on a cross bike but would be easier on a mountain bike.  However, it quickly smooths out into more of rail roadbed.  It appears that section filled in a bit after the discontinuation of the line.  You catch glimpses of the Shepaug River hear and there while riding up the trail.  This trail is popular among the Equestriennes so be sure to extend every courtesy to them like stopping when you meet up with them, asking to go around, or even dismounting when they come by.

At the end of the trail, where Steep Rock Reservation ends, is a barrier and it's private property from there on out, to the private school off of Romford Road.

Clearly, it appears that people have continued onwards from here and I have seen other references of people riding through here, too, so some time in future I will ride it.  In fact, what I want to do is ride to Litchfield and then ride as much as the old roadbed as possible, all the way down to Hawleyville.

Turning around at this point, I rode back to Route 47, through Washington Depot, and down through the section of Steep Rock that I always ride.

Riding through the tunnel never gets old 

And of course, you can't take enough pictures of the tunnel. This is unique, how many railroad tunnels are there in the Northeast that you can ride through?

Then it was back to Roxbury Market for a quick bite to eat and home to warm up again because with the wet weather, it turned out to be a cold day and I was wearing shorts.