The scheduled Tumble Hill hike has to be changed because the Rec Center is not unconditionally open, and the river is full of downed trees. Stid Hill WMA is a DEC managed property consisting of two tracts in Bristol and South Bristol. We will hike the trails in the North tract accessible from the North parking lot on SR64. It’s another area that was used for pasture and reverted to forest after transportation and refrigeration made it uneconomical for agricultural use, so we will see rock piles and ruins of stone fences and a few large old trees that might have been left in the pastures for shade. We will hike the North tract and meet at the parking lot on SR64 1.4 miles North of the Bristol Mountain Ski area entrance, or 0.6 mile North of Lock Stock and Barrel. If coming from the North it’s a little over three miles south of the Bristol town center at the intersection of SR64 and CR32. It’s easy to see, look for the DEC sign on the East side of the road. The parking lot is adequate but not overly large so park with that in mind. There is a Stid Hill South parking lot near the intersection with CR34 which is not where we will be, so don’t go there.

As the name implies, it’s a hill. The whole trail has roughly a thousand feet of elevation change, but a well designed system of switchbacks was developed by mountain bikers which makes it an easy climb. There is also a part of the trail system that is an old road of some kind, which is steeper. The access trail is not marked by blazes but is clearly defined by use. At the first important fork two colors of blazes appear, Yellow and Blue.

Climbers will hike up the Yellow switchbacks to the intersection of the Yellow trail and the Blue trail, which is an important landmark part way up the hill that I call the Crossroads.  They will then take Blue and continue up to the top of the hill and on to a fork where they will turn Left onto Yellow again. After skirting the South and East boundaries of the North tract, Yellow leads back to the Crossroads. Climbers will then turn right onto Blue, go down the steeper and shorter route back to the first fork with Yellow, and take the unmarked fork handle back to the parking lot. This route is about four miles long with close to a thousand feet of elevation, but the mountain bikers have made sure it seems gradual for hikers.

Tourists will go with the Climbers up the switchbacks to the Crossroads, where they have options depending on how much energy they have left. They can take Blue left and back to the parking lot, mostly downhill and the shortest way back. They can retrace the Yellow switchbacks. Or they can stay on Yellow through the Crossroads for a while before backtracking.

Naturalists will have a variety of options including the meadows, Mud Creek, and the relatively flat access trail and lower Blue trail in the woods.

A social will be held at Lock Stock and Barrel, half a mile south.

Directions to Stid Hill are available by clicking here.