Bear Mountain

Salisbury

Sources: Keyarts, #20; Hardy #40; Laubach and Smith, #2

Directions:

From the junction of CT 41 and US 44 in Salisbury, drive on CT 41 north to a small hikers’ parking lot on the left.

For a shorter trail. From the /Salisbury town hall (at the corner of Rt.. 44 and Washnee Street); turn west onto Washnee Street; drive 0.6 of a mile to the graveled Mount Riga Road on the left. Drive 2.8 miles to the junction with Mount Washington Road to the right. Turn sharply to the right north, and continue 3 miles to an old woods road on the right, east. Here is a white sign saying hiking trail.

Trails:

The Undermountain Trail (blue-blazed) starts from here. This trail is a 1.9 mile feeder trail to the AT. Head west, then southwest, then north to an intersection with the white-blazed AT. Proceed clockwise around a circular trail from this point and return back here. Head north and then northeast to start the come-back trail on the blue-blazed Paradise Lane Trail.

In 2.1 miles the blue trail meets up with the AT. Take the AT south to the top of Bear Mountain and then head southwest and then southeast back to the Undermountain Trail which will take you back to the parking lot. .

east -- Twin Lakes and Canaan Mountain

north -- Race Mountain (2,365 feet) and Mount Everett (2,602 feet) and its tower, the second highest mountain in Massachusetts

south -- Riga Plateau

west -- Gridley (CT), North and South Brace (NY), Round Mountain (CT) with Mount Frissell (MA) behind it, and, finally, Ashley Mt. (MA).

From the windswept top one can see into three states. At the top is a crumbling, but still large , stone monument built here because it was once thought that this place was the highest point in the state of CT. The real hill point is on a shoulder of Mt. Frissell, whose summit is in Massachusetts.

For the shorter trail. Head east on a well-defined woods road to a junction with the AT in about one mile from Mount Washington Road; turn left (north) and follow the AT to the top of Bear Mountain..

PLANT LIST:

Trees:

Acer pensylvanicum (striped maple)

Acer rubrum (red maple)

Amelanchier arborea (shadbush)

Betula papyrifera (white birch)

Castanea dentata (chestnut trees)

Fagus grandifolia (American beech)

Pinus rigida (pitch pine)

Pinus sp. (a scrub pine)

Pinus strobus (white pine)

Quercus spp.) (oaks)

Sassafras albidum (sassafras)

Tsuga canadensis (eastern hemlock)

Shrubs:

Aronia sp. (chokeberry)

Chimaphila maculata (spotted wintergreen)

Epigaea repens (trailing arbutus)

Gaultheria procumbens (wintergreen; checkerberry)

Gaylussacia baccata (black huckleberry)

Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)

Kalmia latifolia (mountain laurel)

Lonicera sp. (honeysuckle)

Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)

Quercus ilicifolia (scrub oak)

Vaccinium sp. (blueberry)

Viburnum sp. (hobblebush viburnum)

(wild azalea)

Herbs:

Aralia nudicaulis (wild sarsaparilla)

Aster spp. (asters)

Clintonia borealis (blue-bead lily)

Prunella vulgaris (self-heal)

Streptopus roseus (rose-twisted stalk)

Ferns:

Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)

(pasture brake)

Others:

(reindeer moss)

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