Burlington's Town Trails I love Burlington hiking. There is a lot of it. Much of it great. The "problem," so to speak, is that it's all CFPA trails for the most part - on state-owned, land trust-owned, or Nature Conservancy owned land as best as I can tell. Leaving the town itself with... nothing. Which is … [Read more...]
Fisher Farm Open Space
Fisher Farm Open Space July 1, 2010 My 2010 advice: Don’t bother. Unless you are 100% immune to poison ivy and get your jollies hiking through pancake-flat meadows and woods, there’s really not too much on offer here. Perhaps it’s better in the fall, I don’t know. I hiked this property on a steamy July 1st … [Read more...]
Avon’s Town Trails Intro
Avon's Town Trails I wonder what it’s like to be an Avon lady in Avon. Do they still drive the pink cars? I haven’t seen one in forever. Quite a mystery. Also a mystery? Figuring out the subtle differences between town owned land (with trails) and Land Trust land (with trails). Avon sort of opened Pandora’s … [Read more...]
Newington’s Town Trails Intro
Newington's "Other Trails" No one ever thinks about Newington. Not even me, even though I'm often as close as two minutes away from it when I am in Elmwood. Well, that used to be me, until the town voted for one Mr. Stephen Woods for mayor. Although he has an extra 's' on his name, I still feel a kinship with him. … [Read more...]
Farmington’s Town Trails Intro
Farmington's Trails I spend far too much time on these "town trail intro" pages. They really don't serve much purpose for anyone other than me. After all, who understands the vagaries of "town trails" vs. similar introduction pages for the local land trust trails (among others)? But the real issue is the … [Read more...]
Woodbury’s Town Trails Intro
Woodbury's "Other Trails" Woodbury has some excellent land trust property held by the Flanders Land Trust. But, like many towns, it also has some town (etc.) owned open space. And since I’ve already hiked through two protected town open spaces/parks that I think you should check out as well, I figured why not put … [Read more...]
SLT: Farmington River/Tarriffville Walk
Drugs are a Dead End Farmington River/Tarriffville Walk, Simsbury Land Trust October 4, 2013 UPDATE: This trail/property no longer appears in the new 2016 Simsbury Land Trust Walk Book. It is still noted on the Town of Simsbury recreation page. Ok, listen: You can skip this one. With so many beautiful and … [Read more...]
Westfield Falls
Ironically, the West Field of Vision is Awful Westfield Falls, Middletown January 26, 2012 It’s been a while since I’ve written a waterfall page. This is one of those categories that I’m never too sure how much people want to read beyond, “Is it worth my time and effort and if it is, where is it?” Fair enough. … [Read more...]
Orenaug Park Fire Tower
A Town Named Woodbury Needs a Good Fire Tower Orenaug Park Fire Tower January 7, 2012 Steel Tower (80 feet) on a 540 foot hilltop [This page is part of my ongoing series, “Hikes with my Boys.” The full list of those hikes can be found here.] It's not often one can take their little kid on a hike in early … [Read more...]
Orenaug Park Stone Pillars
A Pillar of the Pillar World Orenaug Park, Woodbury January 7, 2012 To me, my title says it all. Oh sure, we have bigger stone pillars and more important pillars of our communities and rather handsome caterpillars in our state. But these pillars shall never be pilloried! For these are awesome pillars. I … [Read more...]