A surprise hike took us to Westville Dam today with a friend and his family (after gorging on a breakfast buffet in honor of his 37th birthday).  There were six of us who burned off the breakfast calories at a recreational area which I’d previously done some biking at.

We did a three mile loop which starts at the parking area, follows a rail trail’s wide easy grade, then crosses a dam and follows some steep peaks and valleys before looping back.  The trail crosses between Sturbridge and Southbridge and follows along a recreational area where people picnic in the summer months.  It also borders a popular spring fly-fishing location (noted for later…).

During this impromptu hike we introduced our friends to geocaching.  There were four caches hidden along the trail we followed, and we found all four.  They ranged from large ammo boxes to tiny bison tubes. The smallest cache was fairly challenging, but we finally figured out the hint and walked away victorious.

It was a nice easy hike with frequent pauses to search areas just off the beaten path.  We saw a tiny snake and enjoyed the company of friends.  There’s very little sense of “wilderness” here as compared to Wells State Park, or most recent hike, but it was a much more kid-friendly destination.