Hiking the trails at Hungerford Park

Today I decided to go for a hike since the weather is so nice. I decided to go to the New Britain Youth Museum at Hungerford Park. According to the descriptions I have seen about it, the nature trails are separate from the museum and therefore free. I thought that because it was part of a youth museum, the trails would not be intense, and I was right.

However, I was greatly disappointed in the trails. At the beginning there was a map. It appeared that there was one major loop (the yellow trail) and a number of cross-trails (some marked and some unmarked). So, since the map represented a simplistic layout, I figured that I would be fine. Boy was I wrong!

I didn’t find the first markers until about 1/4 mile down the trail, and that was after passing a number of off-shooting trails. I found it about the time I was going to turn around. Most intersections along the trail are not marked, so it’s hard to determine where you are.

In addition, the trail is right near the road and residential neighborhoods. At one point, I took one of the cross trails because there was extremely loud music coming from where the trail was heading. I could only imagine that the baby was covering its newly-working ears saying, “Get outta here Mom!” I really don’t understand how people do not understand that others may not want to listen to their music, especially the painfully loud bass.

So, once I made that turn, I didn’t see anymore trail markers until I got closer to the end. At one point I made a turn and saw a newly-fallen tree that I examined earlier. At least I knew where I was! I eventually back-tracked from that point and got out of there! The entire trip was only about 45 minutes, but the panic, lost feeling made it seem a lot longer.

As well, I didn’t see any wildlife except for bugs. I didn’t even see birds until the last five minutes of the walk. It was disappointing.

So, my recommendation — don’t make a special trip here if you are looking for a laid-back, enjoyable hiking experience. I can’t speak for the inside of the museum, but the animals outside the museum on display looked really sad. One poor llama was so excited to see me through the fence, and I felt bad.