The road in was recently graded (as reported in Steve Burn's TR). You need a 4WD or AWD to get past the erosion control ditches the bulldozer put in the roads. Our Subaru Outback did just fine. The road should smooth out soon and the ditches will fill in a bit.
We got there late in the morning, but it was still sunny with clear skies. But, we knew this was a false sense of security. The conifer forest are exceptional on Huntersfield Mountain, and this location on Huntersfield Mountain was no exception. We spent most of the day wondering up-and-down the many trails. We even found the trail up the ridge trail to the summit. We did miss a few trails, but we got most of them in this area.
This area, like most of the conifer forest on Huntersfield, was loaded with porcupines. We saw lots of pine cone seed piles. And the forest we littered with new seedlings from the see piles. The wind come up and blows the seeds all over the forest floor. Then you will see conifer forest seedling carpets.
Overall, we had a really nice day, and we didn't go far from the car. The clouds moved in real quick. About 3 minutes after we got back to our car, it started to pour. Talk about good timing!
If you wanted to go hiking in the woods without being far from the car, this is the place to go.
The red shows where we hiked - thick black shows rough road
Conifer forest trail
Old homestead site
Porcupine pine code seed pile
Conifer seedling carpet
Alexis and I are about to enter another conifer forest
Another conifer forest
Trail junction with the upper trail to the summit of Huntersfield Mtn
Another, of many, porcupine pine code seedling piles
Fungus growing on a pine tree