• Laurel Loop Trail
• Fish Road, Voluntown, CT
• Trailhead:  41°33’3.44″N, 71°49’48.04″W
• Last Time Hiked: June 23, 2018
• Approximate distance hiked: 3.8 miles
• Fairly easy, trails can be muddy.

Starting from a parking area along Fish Road about a eight tenths of a mile from Route 49, follow Fish Road easterly for a few feet until you come to where the Nehantic Trail crosses the road. Here you will turn right and follow the blue blazed Nehantic Trail for just a few feet before coming to the Pachaug-Nehantic Crossover Trail. This trail, on the left is blazed blue/red and there is very good signage here. The trail itself is at first very narrow winding through a forest floor of vibrant and tall ferns. You will shortly come to a road crossing where there was once a toll booth. The blue/red blazed trail continues ahead on the other side of the road. It slowly climbs uphill through canopies of mountain laurel and tall trees before descending gently. Look closely on the right for an old cemetery. Beyond the cemetery on the left the trail bends to the left, downhill and over a small stream before coming to some old and rather impressive foundations on the left. Beyond the foundations the trail splits. To the right the crossover trail continues to the right. Turn left here to follow the Laurel Loop. Signage (at the time of this hike) is very well marked. The remainder of the Laurel Loop Trail is now blazed blue/yellow and is now following an old cart path. Soon you will see a house on the left. The trail turns right just before the road and continues through the woods winding through an area of low shrubs including blueberries. The trail soon swings to the west and crosses Tarklin Hill Road. Continuing straight across the road the trail then follows another, slightly overgrown, cartpath flanked with even more mountain laurel. The trail meanders northwesterly for a bit before swinging south and then west. Along the way you will cross a seasonal brook, see a large open field to the right, cross a wooden bridge over another stream, and walk through a pine grove, before coming to another road crossing at Hill Road. The last stretch of trail continues across the road westerly into the woods before turning to the south. The trail then comes to the road intersection near the toll booth. Turn right here and follow Fish Road westerly back to the parking area.

Map can be found at: Laurel Loop

Foundations Along The Laurel Loop