Hop River State Park Trail cut, Bolton CT.jpg
John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0

Box Mountain Forest Viewpoint–Bolton Notch Pond, 4 sights is a 15.7-mile out-and-back in Hop River State Park Trail near Andover, CT. The route passes Bolton Notch Pond before reaching Box Mountain Forest Viewpoint at the turnaround, 7.9 miles in. It climbs 747 ft, with sections as steep as 16% grade, and is mostly gravel. It scores 1/100 on the Ambleway Wildness scale: paved and peopled.

Elevation

0 mi315 – 755 ft · steepest grade: 16%16.9 mi

Getting there

Trailhead: Unnamed 41.72980, -72.37021
Nearest town Andover, CT

Directions

AMBLEWAYwww.ambleway.com

Box Mountain Forest Viewpoint–Bolton Notch Pond, 4 sights

15.7 mi · ▲ 747 ft · 5 hr 36 min

Elevation 314–755 ft

Out & Back · Hop River State Park Trail

Trailhead: 41.72980, -72.37021

Weather Aug 4: Overcast, high 80°F / low 63° · precip 0% · wind 4 mph · sunrise 5:47 AM · sunset 8:05 PM

Parking lot at the trailhead

  1. Start at the trailhead, heading NW.
  2. 0.3 miBear right onto MTB Orange, heading N.
  3. 50 ftTurn left, heading N.
  4. 350 ftTurn right, heading N.
  5. 400 ftTurn left, heading N.
  6. 0.2 miSharp left onto Hop River State Park Trail, heading E.
  7. 6 miContinue straight onto Hop River Connector, heading N.
  8. 50 ftContinue straight onto Hop River State Park Trail, heading N.
  9. 0.3 miPass Bolton Notch Pond.
  10. 0.3 miBear right, heading NW.
  11. 150 ftTurn left, heading NW.
  12. 50 ftTurn right, heading NW.
  13. 0.2 miTurn left, heading NW.
  14. 400 ftTurn right, heading NE.
  15. 0.1 miTurn left, heading NE.
  16. 450 ftTurn left, heading NE.
  17. 0.1 miReach Box Mountain Forest Viewpoint, then turn around and head back the way you came.
  18. 0.1 miTurn right, heading N.
  19. 450 ftTurn right, heading N.
  20. 0.1 miTurn left, heading NW.
  21. 400 ftTurn right, heading S.
  22. 0.2 miTurn left, heading SE.
  23. 50 ftTurn right, heading SE.
  24. 150 ftBear left, heading S.
  25. 0.6 miContinue straight onto Hop River Connector, heading SE.
  26. 50 ftContinue straight onto Hop River State Park Trail, heading S.
  27. 6 miSharp right, heading SE.
  28. 0.2 miTurn right, heading E.
  29. 400 ftTurn left onto MTB Orange, heading E.
  30. 350 ftBear left, heading E.
  31. 300 ftArrive back at the trailhead.

Each distance is the walk from the previous step. Tap a step for a map of its junction.

Trail surface

82% gravel17% dirt1% paved

Weather

OvercastTemperature 80°F63°
Precip0%Wind4 mphUV7Humidity81%
Rained 1.9″ yesterday (3.7″ over the last week) · trails may be muddy
Hourly temperature
80°60°
Sunrise 5:47 AM12 AM3 AM9 AM12 PM3 PM6 PMSunset 8:05 PM
Wed 80°64°
Thu 86°68° 33%
Fri 93°71° 32%
Sat 91°70° 43%
Sun 93°69° 21%
Mon 93°70° 17%

Sunset

The best sunset spot on this hike is 0.5 mi in (~14 min). Leave by 7:32 PM for the 8:05 PM sunset. Back at your car by 8:33 PM — 3 min before dark. Car visible from the viewpoint

More sunset hikes nearby

Good to know

  • Parking lot at the trailhead

Other ways to reach this destination

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