KILLINGLY, Conn. – The view from the steep granite cliffs, which rise 200 feet above Furnace Pond , extends across several ridges and well into Rhode Island, as far as the eye can see.
A thick canopy of trees blankets the land and camouflages any roads, buildings or other human development. The only man-made features that spoil the natural landscape are cellphone towers on the highest points.
When I surveyed the terrain from the cliffs in Old Furnace State Park , it was clear that the border separating Connecticut and Rhode Island is just an artificial legal boundary. The land on both sides of the line is almost indistinguishable and all part of the same place.
Walking Rhode Island seldom ventures outside the state , but after hiking along Route 6 and exploring old farmland, quarries and mill sites along the road through Johnston, Scituate and Foster, I wondered what I’d find if I traveled further west along the route.
So, with several hiking buddies, I headed west, crossed the border and entered the 367-acre Old Furnace State Park in Killingly. We hoped to find the cliffs and the site of an old furnace I had read about.