King Philip Trail/Lookout Rock - November 15, 2020

King Philip Trail to River Bend Farm

My original plan was to paddle the canal and river loop at River Bend Farm, but on the way there I decided to check out Lookout Rock at sunrise. The view was beautiful so I decided to hike the King Philip Trail on its 2.5-mile loop from Lookout Rock to River Bend Farm instead.   

I started at the parking lot at Wolf Hill Road, and immediately took a wrong turn. I wasn't on the trail to Lookout Rock, but I did find a sign for the King Philip Trail back to the Hartford Avenue parking lot. I retraced my steps to find Lookout Rock, and snapped a few sunrise pictures. 

Through the pine grove

Then I decided to follow the King Phillip Trail back to Hartford Avenue. Several years I tried a sunrise hike from Hartford Avenue to Lookout Rock, but lost the trail as it when through a large pine grove. The trail is better marked now with blue trail markers, but it can still be tricky if you don't know where you are going.

From the Hartford Avenue parking lot the trail goes down through the picnic area, to the right through a grove of pine trees, across a small bridge and along the river.  The trail is well established, but there are lots of rocks and roots. It is relatively flat along the Blackstone River, but climbs about 150 feet to the top of Lookout Rock.  The round trip took me about 1.5 hours.

View from Lookout Rock at sunrise

Links:

Trail Map

Lookout Rock – October 11, 2014

Checking out the view from Lookout Rock

Lesson number 1 – if you are going on a pre-dawn hike, make sure you know where the trail is!

I decided to try to catch the sunrise from Lookout Rock in the Blackstone River and Canal Heritage Park in Uxbridge. It was still dark when I arrived at the parking lot on Hartford Avenue.  I got my flashlight out and headed off on the King Phillip Trail, only to lose my way after a couple of hundred yards.  After a couple of aborted attempts, I decided to hike in from the parking lot on Wolf Hill Road instead.

Unfortunately, there was no sunrise due to the clouds, but the view of the river snaking through the valley below was still spectacular.

Looking north toward Rice City Pond and River Bend Farm

Links:
My Pictures

Blackstone River and Canal Heritage Park

Blackstone River and Canal Heritage Park Trail Map