There are plenty of biblical names here (Bethlehem, Goshen, etc.) but "Sodom" seems an odd moniker for a community to have to endure.

Time was, Sodom did exist if not with any enduring iniquity.

Reportedly there was a Gomorrah, Mass., nearby, too, but no trace at all of that seems to exist. (see my map above) No one seems to know exactly why Sodom was called Sodom, but the rumors abound that the high living and hanky panky of the early residents earned the place the cursed name.

Visitors regularly drive through the region -- as beautiful as anywhere in the nation -- and, in the process take a detour to see the Sodom they spot on the map. Driving west on Route 44 you take a right across from the East Canaan package store. (sells the devil's brew) This turns into the Sodom Road, and Sodom itself was where the road intersects with Allyndale Road.

One is on the map but doesn't exist; the other exists but isn't on the map.

The second is haunted, so they say. The first? Well, its name is certainly evocative enough:

Sodom.

Sodom, Connecticut, mind you.

Sodom can be found on most maps of Connecticut, a little dot of a place in North Canaan, just south of the Massachusetts' border. You can drive there along Sodom Road off Route 44 in East Canaan, but the "there" doesn't really exist anymore.

There are plenty of biblical names here (Bethlehem, Goshen, etc.) but "Sodom" seems an odd moniker for a community to have to endure. Time was, Sodom did exist if not with any enduring iniquity. Reportedly there was a Gomorrah, Mass., nearby, too, but no trace at all of that seems to exist. No one seems to know exactly why Sodom was called Sodom, but the rumors abound that the high living and hanky panky of the early residents earned the place the cursed name. Visitors regularly drive through the region -- as beautiful as anywhere in the nation -- and, in the process take a detour to see the Sodom they spot on the map. Driving west on Route 44 you take a right across from the East Canaan package store. This turns into the Sodom Road, and Sodom itself was where the road intersects with Allyndale Road. No, there is no post office for you to mail a letter with a distinctive Sodom postmark.

There is, though, the greater treasure of the region: the astonishing loveliness of the views. Farms and steepled villages flow around the hills; old stone buildings loom; schools, shops and homes are everywhere in bucolic excellence. Little or nothing is seen to bring to mind the biblical dens of debauchery such as were destroyed at celestial command. We don't need it, if we're looking for a reason to be rattling around here. The place is simply so pretty and so historic and so gently intriguing as to be reason in itself for the ride. Down Route 7 south below Cornwall and near Bald Mountain, the shadows and spirits of Dudleytown lie hidden in the woods. People hereabouts are aware of the town's reputation, but few believe that troubled ghosts haunt the scene. (Indeed, they would have to be very troubled not to be soothed by the scenery around them.) Dudleytown was established in the late 1730s, but never had much luck. The soil was not suitable for farming. There was talk of the water being bad. Accounts exist of murders, madness, suicides. Later, legend has it, there were fires, missing children, people vanishing, more madness. Other accounts say that's all a lot of hooey and that Dudleytown just fell on the bad luck that can overcome a small town in the middle of even a lovely no where. As happens, the word got out that the place may not be home to people anymore but is home to spirits and spooks. This inspired too many visitors: Ghost hunters came looking for the paranormal; kids came looking for goose bumps; the curious came to see what the fuss was all about. So many people came that the owners of the land closed it off. The Dark Entry Forest Inc. has had the state police in to ticket and tow cars that park along the much-marked roadway that tells us to not park here. There are no holds barred on visiting Sodom, except there's no real Sodom to visit. But the meadows, pastures, dairy farms and country life are vastly superior to the wanton immorality of the original. If you don't think so then maybe you are looking in the wrong spot for your diversions. There were once eight separate Sodoms in the Land of Steady habits. It's hard to imagine what they were thinking naming so many places after the evil city of the Bible, but you -- and the salty Mrs. Lot -- can come out and take a look anytime. It's not all that often that you can dabble in Sodom with no consequences whatever. On the upside is the quest will bring you into some of the most beautiful countryside you could ever ask to see.