Tracing the Shepaug Railroad

On my latest Gravle adventure, I decided to follow the Shepaug Railroad Right of Way, north from from Tunnel Road to the Rumsey Hall School in Romford, CT.   The roadbed is accessible primarily in three places:  (1) Roxbury Land Trust property off of Minor Bridge; (2) Steep Rock Reservation; (3) Hidden Valley section of Steep Rock Reservation. On this ride I didn't ride the section from Minor Bridge to Rt 67.

I usually ride the section through the lower part of the Steep Rock Reservation north to south but since my goal was to ride the section through Hidden Valley I tried something new and went the opposite way.  

The treat to this ride is riding through the tunnel and to be honest, riding in this direction seemed like it was a whole new route. Originally, I intended to link up from Steep Rock to the road behind the Gunnery, called Ferry Bridge Road but I got confused and headed back up another route that put me on Rt 199.

I did find an unmarked road off of Ferry Bridge that ran behind the school that was a great dirt descent.  I will have to try this route again to see if I can make the connection.

Above the Shepaug River the trail get's really narrow and it's not part of the original road bed.  The Shepaug line actually cuts more inland before this section but I missed that turn on this ride.

I had heard that the Rumsey Hall Cross Country Team used the old Railroad bed to run on so I figured it would be OK to ride.  I had ridden this part before but stopped at the gate because it was too muddy to press on.  On this ride, however, it pretty dry with an occasional mud patch here and there.  What I wasn't ready for was all the traffic.  I came across a dog walker and a couple of runners.