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Before reaching the first dam, the Narragansett Trail crosses the Green Fall River and reaches a split. The Narragansett climbs up to the left (east). An unmarked path veers right (west), avoiding the climb and running along the edge of the pond. The Narragansett Trail climbs up the slope to meet another side path on the left (east) that connects to the dirt road mentioned earlier. (Following the road left/northeast leads to the intersection first encountered after leaving the shelter near the mill site. Following the road right/southwest leads to a dam/levee, mentioned below.) Leaving the side path and dirt road behind, the Narragansett Trail heads right (southwest) to rejoin the unmarked path that follows the shore.
Vista of Green Fall Pond
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The trail soon meets with the dirt road again at the end of a wide curving dam/levee with a stone wall to the left (southeast). This replacement dam was built from 1937 to 1940 by the Civilian Conservation Corps, using rock quarried nearby (Roche; "Test Holes Started"). The road continues southeast below the levee to meet Green Fall Road at Peg Mill Brook. The Narragansett Trail proceeds on top of the dam/levee.
Green Fall Pond Levee
After the dam/levee, the trail continues to follow the shoreline, climbing a hill covered with hemlock; from this hill hikers will notice that the water has a green color from the reflection of the surrounding hemlocks. This could be the reason the pond is called "Green Fall Pond." After it descends the hill, the path reaches the Green Fall Pond Dam, where swimming is prohibited. The solid blue blazes of the Narragansett Trail avoid the dam's causeway by turning southward to descend the eastern edge of the dam into a deep ravine; this is the way back to camp. (The orange and blue blazes mark the Green Fall Pond Trail, which crosses the causeway, leaving the ravine behind, then circles the pond.) Global Positioning System (GPS) users should be aware that signal reception may be limited in the ravine.
From the base of the dam, the stone facade can be seen towering well overhead. After rain or during early spring the spillway is full of falling water, making a truly beautiful sight. The trail follows the cool and beautiful ravine, crossing the Green Fall River once along the way. Hikers should be aware of the fact that the rocks are likely to be slippery after recent rains.
Spillway of Green Fall Pond Dam
The Green Fall River may be following an inactive fault that is associated with the early formation of the Atlantic Ocean (Altamura, Tectonics of the Lantern Hill Fault p. 67); see the Lantern Hill section of the Narragansett Trail for more information.
A large stone cairn will be seen on the right (northwest); the cairn may mark the ravine's significance as a spiritual site for the Narragansett Nation. The cairn may otherwise be a Native American marker for a boundary, trail, or significant event (Butler; Jett).
Large cairn
Leaving the cairn, the Narragansett Trail crosses an east-west trench that connects the two streams that run under Green Fall Road. The Connecticut portion of this dirt road is known as Green Fall Road; the Rhode Island portion is called Camp Yawgoog Road. Blue blazes of the CFPA Narragansett Trail continue away from camp along Green Fall Road to the right (southwest). The Patch Trader Geocache is nearby. Green Fall Road climbs uphill and eventually reaches Studio Farm.
Bridge over Green Fall River
By following the road left (east) adventurers can return to Yawgoog, after passing a parking area on the right (southeast); walk single-file on the left side of the road. On the way, Green Fall Road crosses Peg Mill Brook, near a gated road that leads back to the dam/levee. Two overgrown foundations exist northeast of the crossing of the two roads; one is a small stone-lined cellar hole while the other is a more complex arrangement of cut stones.
Stone-lined cellar hole
Foundation of cut stones
Heading to camp, Green Fall Road rises to meet Denison Hill Road (also known as Laurel Glen Road and Laurel Hill Road), which enters from the right (south). The Palmer-Newton Cemetery (Hale, Voluntown pp. 33, 58) is located on the hillside behind the fork -- to the southwest, which is why the hill is called Cemetery Ridge. It complements Seminary Ridge on the Freeman Trail (Williams and Tracy). The cemetery used to serve as the appropriate destination for what "Gus" Anthony called "Ghost story hikes" (Anthony, letter, 13 Mar. 1991). The cemetery's inscriptions date back to 1812; during the nineteenth century, the area had several farms and a school (Map of Windham County, Connecticut; Blakeslee p. Schools 2).
Palmer-Newton Cemetery
Denison Hill Road ultimately leads to the villages of Laurel Glen and Clarks Falls in North Stonington, Connecticut. While this area seems remote from modern life, consider that an area abutting Yawgoog, between Denison Hill Road and the state border, was briefly considered as a potential disposal site for low-level radioactive waste in the 1990s! (Carbone, "N. Stonington Dropped"; Carbone, "Nuclear Dump Sites Proposed"; Villarreal)
The Green Fall Pond area is located within the Connecticut town of Voluntown. According to the History of New London County, Connecticut, Voluntown got its name because volunteers who fought in the King Philip's War were given plots of land in the area in 1706 (Hurd p. 745). "Gus" Anthony writes that at least two of these parcels may exist on the eastern (left-handed) side of Denison Hill Road before the farmhouse is reached; these lots "were long and narrow and ran deep into the woods," with stones marking the Rhode Island/Connecticut boundary. These stones have the initials "IB" carved into them, which, according to Anthony, mean "Indian Boundary" (or perhaps "Interstate Boundary"); the land east of the stones -- what is now Yawgoog -- is said to have been open to the local Native Americans. At least two houses used to exist on these lots, but only the cellar holes remain. These houses were lighted by lamps fueled by acetylene gas produced from the mixing of calcium carbide and water. There were also fields in the area where reservation-wide "Scoutcraft Competition Hikes" used to be held. (Anthony, letter, 15 Feb. 1991; Anthony, letter, 13 Mar. 1991)
Continuing northeast on Green Fall Road from the intersection with Denison Hill Road, the hike finally returns to the start of the Blue Trail on the state line. Metcalf Lodge is farther east down the road.
Driving Directions to Green Fall Pond from Yawgoog: Turn left at the intersection of Route 138 (Spring Street) and Camp Yawgoog Road and proceed west 4.4 miles (7.1 kilometers). Turn left (southwest) onto the Green Fall Pond/Pachaug State Forest entrance on a dirt road (Green Falls Road). At 0.8 mile (1.3 kilometers) an intersection is reached; the dirt Fish Road leads right (west) to Route 49 (Pendleton Hill Road) while the road to the pond (Green Falls Road) is straight ahead (south). During weekends and holidays in summer, a parking fee is collected at the booth near the intersection. Green Fall Pond and its amenities are 1.6 miles (2.5 kilometers) southeast of the intersection. A separate camping fee is collected for use of the campsites. Please note that the roads may be closed in winter.
Caution: Swimming at Green Fall Pond is only allowed at the designated area on the north side of the pond, near the campsites. Swimming is prohibited at all other locations around the pond.
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