| Around 1957 we
started developing hiking trails around camp, opening up much of the undeveloped
property to the Scouts. Waterfront Director Don McLean worked with
the Explorer Scouts camped at Tenny to build the Red Trail, beginning at
the river and looping around the property on that side of the river. It
went along the shore to our boundary, the “dutch wall” (a ditch and bank)
heading south from the river, then dropped off the wall and to the Tenny
campsite road, then along a ridge passing a vernal pool sited in
a glacial kettle. It passed by some of the few Norway (Red) Pines
in camp to the shore, then back along the shore through Tenny campsite.
A Trail Center was set up near the council ring with starting arrows for all trails and large cutouts of a shoe’s sole were hung up on which boys were encouraged to write their name after completing a trail. Some of these can be seen in the Adams Museum. The "Trail Hiker" Neal slide was also sold in the Trading Post and Scouts could paint a nail on the heal for each trail hiked. The Yellow trail went through Boone field, past Ridgway campsite and followed an old trail under the cliffs then turned an climbed the hill, coming down near the camp road. It climbed the hill again and came down steeply on the road to West campsite. The White Trail wound through the central campsites and activity areas to Wilderness then through the woods to the first field. The Blue Trail had a water theme and connected the boating and swimming areas and the shoreline of camp. All through the sixties Frank Maguire maintained these trails, replacing many painted arrow markers and clearing the encroaching brush. In 1970 when Dean Zaharis was Nature Director the Forestry Merit Badge classes add a camp side loop to the red trail connecting cadigan Lodge to the original Red Trail. The other trails were prunned and remarked. In 1984 and 1985 when Dean was Nature Director again, all the trails were updated and remarked. At that same time the Green Trail was developed to meet the requirement of taking 4 one-hour hikes within a 10-acre site. A few of the trails can still be found but some of them have apparently been abandoned. |
| (Click the map below to see it larger) |
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1976 |
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Dean B. Zaharis Created: December 4, 2010 Last Update: December 4, 2010 Send comments to: FriendsOfHinds@gmail.com |