Fellow amateur hunters, Erika and Feryl, asked us to accompany them to a camping/wine trail adventure at the Housatonic Meadows State Park--in November. There were few people around, the only other campers clearly wanted to be left alone. The office was closed when we got there and upon exploration the bathrooms were locked! With an optomistic spirit, we set forth to explore the grounds after establishing our camp site. The grounds were covered entirely with leaves, and overcast skies and rushing Housatonic River added to the eerie feeling.
My husband, Kris, told our friends about the local legend of Dudleyville as we explored the grounds and quickly peeked their interest. Erika suggested finding out more from the locals as we explored the wineries nearby. We all piled into Feryl's car and headed to our first winery.
We hit three wineries and tasted many types of wine, and in the midst of our excitement for these tasty beverages, forgot to ask about Dudleyville--fail! We headed back to camp, slightly disappointed. One the way we stopped at a local package store for matches (we forgot to bring some), and inside we found more FREE samples of wine! The owner of the store was very kind in sharing a taste, and talked freely about the various wineries around Litchfield County. With his loose tongue, I figured he would freely offer information about Dudleyville, but asking him was a mistake. He told us to not trespass, and that he would not talk about the place. I tired to pry farther, but insulted him in doing so and he walked away.
After apologizing for the intrusion, we left the store, matches in hand. Erika and Feryl headed to the car and Kris and I went next door to a tile store to try our luck there. The women running the store, knew nothing. Disappointed, yet again, we dragged back to the car. Feryl found online (with his iphone), that Dudleyville was located at the end of Dark Entry Rd. (creepy!) With this and a new optimism in hand, we headed out of the driveway, and to our great surprise, found Dark Entry Rd. staring us in the face! It was across the street from the package store!
Of course, we ventured up the long and steep winding road to the top, where we were greeted by a gravel road and the entrance to what we thought would be Dudleyville. At this point there was no sign that said private property, no trespassing, no parking, etc. We felt completely safe to park here a hike the trail--and we did.
The trail was beautiful, peaceful, and followed a cute stream. To the right of the trail was a flagstone wall that seemed to be marking boundaries of some sort. We hiked on, hopeful to find some evidence of Dudleyville. About midway through our hike, we stumbled upon more wall that cut through the stream, creating a waterfall. It looked like a dam of some sort, and it was as we later found, the Dudleyville dam. We stumbled further into the woods, finding nothing more than more flagstone wall and abundant "no trespassing signs" (oops).
Discouraged, and with little daylight left, we headed back to our campsite. The remainder of our camping was relaxing, and relatively uneventful, as camping should be. We played Circle of Death by the fire and fell asleep, snuggled and freezing in our sleeping bags. The next morning we cleaned up camp and left home. After hours of research, both Erika and I found that we were actually in Dudleyville! Posted are some pictures of our adventure (taken by Feryl).
This adventure started our fascination with haunted Connecticut.
My husband, Kris, told our friends about the local legend of Dudleyville as we explored the grounds and quickly peeked their interest. Erika suggested finding out more from the locals as we explored the wineries nearby. We all piled into Feryl's car and headed to our first winery.
We hit three wineries and tasted many types of wine, and in the midst of our excitement for these tasty beverages, forgot to ask about Dudleyville--fail! We headed back to camp, slightly disappointed. One the way we stopped at a local package store for matches (we forgot to bring some), and inside we found more FREE samples of wine! The owner of the store was very kind in sharing a taste, and talked freely about the various wineries around Litchfield County. With his loose tongue, I figured he would freely offer information about Dudleyville, but asking him was a mistake. He told us to not trespass, and that he would not talk about the place. I tired to pry farther, but insulted him in doing so and he walked away.
After apologizing for the intrusion, we left the store, matches in hand. Erika and Feryl headed to the car and Kris and I went next door to a tile store to try our luck there. The women running the store, knew nothing. Disappointed, yet again, we dragged back to the car. Feryl found online (with his iphone), that Dudleyville was located at the end of Dark Entry Rd. (creepy!) With this and a new optimism in hand, we headed out of the driveway, and to our great surprise, found Dark Entry Rd. staring us in the face! It was across the street from the package store!
Of course, we ventured up the long and steep winding road to the top, where we were greeted by a gravel road and the entrance to what we thought would be Dudleyville. At this point there was no sign that said private property, no trespassing, no parking, etc. We felt completely safe to park here a hike the trail--and we did.
The trail was beautiful, peaceful, and followed a cute stream. To the right of the trail was a flagstone wall that seemed to be marking boundaries of some sort. We hiked on, hopeful to find some evidence of Dudleyville. About midway through our hike, we stumbled upon more wall that cut through the stream, creating a waterfall. It looked like a dam of some sort, and it was as we later found, the Dudleyville dam. We stumbled further into the woods, finding nothing more than more flagstone wall and abundant "no trespassing signs" (oops).
Discouraged, and with little daylight left, we headed back to our campsite. The remainder of our camping was relaxing, and relatively uneventful, as camping should be. We played Circle of Death by the fire and fell asleep, snuggled and freezing in our sleeping bags. The next morning we cleaned up camp and left home. After hours of research, both Erika and I found that we were actually in Dudleyville! Posted are some pictures of our adventure (taken by Feryl).
This adventure started our fascination with haunted Connecticut.
For more information on the history of Dudleyville visit the following links
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