CTMQ

Destroying the myth that there is nothing to do here

green mountain modern house
  • CTMQ’s Town Guides
    • Town Completion Celebrations
  • Museums
    • Museum Visits
  • Hikes, Bikes, & Paddles
    • CFPA Trails & Blue Trails Challenge
    • State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites
    • Land Trust Trails
    • Town Trails
    • Audubon, Nature Conservancy, RWA, and US Army Corps of Engineers Trails
    • Highpointing and Peakbagging
    • Cycling, Multi-Use, & Rails-to-Trails Paths
    • Water Trails
  • Food & Drink
    • Best, Historic, & Unique Restaurants & Foods
    • Classic Diners & True Taverns
    • Homemade Ice Cream, Cheese, & Chocolate Trails
    • Breweries, Brewpubs, & Cideries
    • Wineries & Meaderies
    • Distilleries
  • Everything Else
    • National Designations
    • Firsts, Onlies, Oldests, Largests, Longests, Mosts, Smallests, & Bests
    • Geography
    • Animals, Farms, Gardens, Plants, Trees, Rocks, Waterfalls, & Caves
    • Sports, Thrills, Cruises, Trains, Fairs, Parades, & Events
    • Houses, Communities, Urban Legends, Lighthouses, Libraries, Schools, Businesses, & Theaters
    • Towers, Bridges, Forts, Tunnels, Roads, Canals, Dams, Fishways, Airports, & Ferries
    • Religion, Remembrances, Statuary, & Outdoor Art
    • Cultural, Heritage, & Historic Trails
    • CT Books, Movies, People, & Stories
  • Non-CT
    • Travel & Vacations
    • World Soccer Stadium Tour
    • Highpointing & Peakbagging
    • Books & Reading Challenges
    • Oscar Movies Project
  • About
    • FAQ
    • Family
    • Smith-Magenis Syndrome
    • Press
CTMQ > Hikes, Bikes & Paddles > State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites

Read this first

State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites

Mount Tom State Park

July 19, 2010 by Steve 1 Comment

Mt. Tom State Park Litchfield, Morris, Washington July 3, 2010 This is perhaps the easiest state park write-up in the state. Why? Because it’s small and there are two activities here. I did both on a sunny Saturday in July while Hoang and Damian stuck to the one they most enjoy: hitting the beach. As a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Everything Else, State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites Tagged With: Beach, Damian, Hoang, Litchfield, Morris, Mt Tom State Park, Swimming, Washington

Day Pond State Park

July 17, 2010 by Steve 2 Comments

Day Pond State Park Colchester There are hiking trails at Day Pond, but the park is very small and those trails almost all head off into the Salmon River State Forest, which is where you'll find my descriptions of them. Who spends the Fourth of July at some podunk little pond in the podunk town of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hikes, Bikes & Paddles, State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites Tagged With: Beach, Colchester, Damian, Day Pond State Park, Hoang, salmon river state forest, Swimming

State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites

July 17, 2010 by Steve 2 Comments

Stately List State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, Natural Area Preserves, Wildlife Management & Field Trial Areas, & Campsites This page was a huge mess for CTMQ’s first 10 years. Connecticut makes such a simple sounding list incredibly difficult to organize for a bunch of reasons that you don’t care about. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hikes, Bikes & Paddles, State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites

141. Topsmead

May 5, 2010 by Steve 8 Comments

Totally Tops Litchfield (Google Maps location) October 10, 2009 I used to maintain a personalized list on CTMQ called "Hidden Gems." After a while, however, I realized that there were just too many and defining what was hidden became impossible. So I scrapped the whole thing. If I had kept up with it, Topsmead … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Museums, State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites Tagged With: Cool Architecture, Damian, Free Museums, Hoang, Litchfield, topsmead state forest

Shenipsit Trail: Section 3

April 14, 2010 by Steve 7 Comments

Section 3: A Seriously Mixed Bag Manchester, Bolton, Vernon, ~ 12.2 miles March 14, 2010 I’m glad I had a partner for this hike – the learned Dennis Paul Himes (trailname: Cumulus) – or else I may have gone crazy. For this is one very strange stretch of the Shenipsit. Four towns, three town parks, two … [Read more...]

Filed Under: CFPA Hikes, Hikes, Bikes & Paddles, State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites Tagged With: Blue Trails Challenge, Bolton, case mountain recreational area, Manchester, Shenipsit Trail, tankerhoosen wma, valley falls park, Vernon

Squaw Cave

April 10, 2010 by Steve 7 Comments

A Solution (Cave) for the Homeless Squaw Cave, Bolton April 1, 2010 Note: I enjoyed my title so much that I've decided to keep it, even though the entire premise turned out to be totally wrong. Just keep reading and you'll see at the bottom that I sorted it all out. Over the years of writing this website, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biology & Geology, Everything Else, State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites Tagged With: Bolton, bolton notch state park, Bushwhack, Caves & Dens, Cool Geology, Cool Rocks, Dubious Claims, Great Views

Campbell Falls

April 5, 2010 by Steve 4 Comments

No Soup for Connecticut Campbell Falls , New Marlborough, MA(!) April 2010 & April 2014 [Note: For my Waterfalls pages, I’m using the town designation used by the Connecticut Waterfalls 2013 guidebook. Because sometimes it’s fun. This one is quite unique because the fall themselves are in Massachusetts, mere feet … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Everything Else, Geography, State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites Tagged With: campbell falls state park, Damian, Hikes with my Boys, Justin Coleman Photography, Massachusetts, Monuments and Plaques, Norfolk, Waterfalls

111. Gillette Castle

March 9, 2010 by Steve 5 Comments

The Best (Castle) a Man Can Get East Haddam & Lyme (Google Maps Location) May 31, 2009 I've since visited Gillette Castle many times, for many different reasons. In fact, there are several other CTMQ pages about the state park, often with much better pictures. Aha! A rarity on CTMQ: A museum I’d visited … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Museums, State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites Tagged With: "See Before you die" list, Cool Architecture, Damian, East Haddam, Gillette Castle State Park, Hoang, Lyme

Gay City State Park

March 7, 2010 by Steve 5 Comments

“We Built This Gay City… We Built This Gay City on Rocks and Roll(ing Hills)!” Bolton, Glastonbury & Hebron, about 11 miles total June 17 and 24, 2009 It is always challenging for me to logically and concisely present these "trail networks" for easy consumption. I put a lot of effort into planning for and hiking … [Read more...]

Filed Under: CFPA Hikes, Hikes, Bikes & Paddles, State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites Tagged With: Abandoned and/or Unique Communities, Beach, Blue Trails Challenge, Bolton, gay city state park, Glastonbury, Hebron, Shenipsit Trail, Swimming

Shenipsit Regional Trails Intro

January 21, 2010 by Steve Leave a Comment

Shenipsit Regional Trail Network Bolton, Glastonbury, Hebron, Manchester, Vernon Like the Tunxis Trail, the Shenipsit has a whole host of trails leading to, leading from, or nearby that are included as sort of part of the main trail. I always figure the best way to present them is under their own separate section, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: CFPA Hikes, Hikes, Bikes & Paddles, State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites Tagged With: Blue Trails Challenge, Bolton, Case Mountain Trails, gay city state park, Glastonbury, Hebron, Manchester, Shenipsit Trail, State WMA, Vernon

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • Next Page »
  • Bluesky
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Goodreads
  • Instagram
  • RSS

Press & Media Inquiries

Latest Museum Visits

The heart of CTMQ

Totally Random Post!

Bunker Hill Preserve

Sponsored Links

Recent Comments

  • Patrick James Donoghue on White Cloud
  • Mr. Z on Thimble Island Brewery & Brewpub
  • Adam Prestin on Kellogg-Eddy House & Museum
  • BP on 444. Milldale Train Depot Museum
  • Teknik Elektro on Oliver Wolcott Library
Disclaimer
Mission Statement
Copyright © 2025 - CTMQ