The Playground is an area known to bikers generally between the white and orange trails at the 146 entrance. It involves of a series of rocky ledges left by our quarrymen anscestors, where beginner to intermediate freeriders can hone their skills on the small to medium jumps, drops and rollers. Advanced riders can perfect their technique and connect features like logs, rollers and quarry stone for improvised obstacle courses.

 

It is hard to imagine that this area, as well as most of the woods around it were barren treeless rock. It is even harder to imagine what it might have looked like before the 1800s deforestation due to agriculture and the charcol industry, and quarrying activity. Connecticut forests were generally described as large old growth trees with open space between them. The thick canopy provided by the large trees made it difficult for undergrowth and brush to occur. So the forest floor may have been more expansive and park-like. Easier for larger animals like deer to maneuver through.  I wonder if all this rock was visible at all.  I don’t understand the town’s constant desire to harvest large old trees to make way for “New Growth Forest,” which I imagine as a lot of briars and small silver birch trees. But I haven’t heard their rationale. I guess they seem to prefer new growth houses to the old ones lately, which I don’t quite understand as well.

 

Anyway the playground has at least 3 4+ footers, one main skinny, two nice rollers and all kinds of rocks and such to hop around on.  There’s a drop going into the first quarry, but its wayy techie. I haven’t seen anyone attempt it but there are tracks, so one can only suppose someone has.