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 (Gone)
  • 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

Lake Williams State Park Scenic Reserve

November 9, 2023 by Steve Leave a Comment

Lake People Lake Williams State Park Scenic Reserve, Lebanon Multiple Visits Once or twice a year, we become Lake People. It happens when our friends Sean and Marni invite us to their little lake house on Lake Williams in Lebanon to spend a day doing things Lake People do. What do Lake People do? Lake … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hikes, Bikes & Paddles, New Post, State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites Tagged With: boating & sailing, Calvin, Damian, Hoang, kayaking & canoeing, Lebanon, Swimming

Hurd State Park

October 28, 2023 by Steve Leave a Comment

Ya Hurd Hurd State Park, East Hampton Hurd is pretty much just a straight up state park on some hills along the Connecticut River. Although, it is one of the few state parks that allows boaters to camp, so that's cool. The park is named for the Hurd family, who came to the region from Massachusetts in 1710. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hikes, Bikes & Paddles, State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites Tagged With: East Hampton, Hurd State Park

Farnum Falls

September 29, 2023 by Steve Leave a Comment

Far OutNumbered By Better Falls Farnum Falls, Durham November 2023 To my knowledge, there's no such name as Farnum Falls attached to what I'm calling Farnum Falls, deep within Cockaponset State Forest just west of Miller's Pond State Park in Durham. But what the heck, I found these falls to be a nice little scenic … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biology & Geology, Everything Else, Hikes, Bikes & Paddles, New Post, State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites Tagged With: cockaponset state forest, Durham, Waterfalls

Durham Meadows WMA

September 26, 2023 by Steve Leave a Comment

Hunting for Trails Durham Meadows WMA, Durham September 2023 When I put together my CTMQ Town Guides for each of our 169 towns, I do my best to capture everything germane to what it is I do. When it comes to hiking, I tend to be way too thorough. There's a sort of hierarchy to these things, and state-owned … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hikes, Bikes & Paddles, State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites Tagged With: Durham, impassable trails, State WMA

Nehantic State Forest Intro

June 1, 2023 by Steve Leave a Comment

Nehantic State Forest Lyme & East Lyme A couple nice trails are blazed through these woods, which are lovely woods... but not much more than that. Nehantic was the first state forest in New London County, and has all been purchased since 1925. Considerable difficulty was experienced in selecting the site. Although … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hikes, Bikes & Paddles, State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites Tagged With: East Lyme, Lyme, nehantic state forest

Rocky Neck State Park Intro

June 1, 2023 by Steve Leave a Comment

Rocky Neck State Park East Lyme Here we are... at Connecticut's "other" big beach state park. Hammonnasett's kid brother. Everything here is smaller... or lacking. Hammonnasett got a brand new updated nature center right around when Rocky Neck's was shuttered. The beach here is much smaller. The parking lot is tiny … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hikes, Bikes & Paddles, State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites Tagged With: East Lyme, Rocky Neck State Park

Mashamoquet Brook State Park Trails

April 20, 2023 by Steve Leave a Comment

Do The Mash...amoquet Mashamoquet Brook State Park, Pomfret April & July 2011, August 2017 I've hiked the 6.5 miles of trails at Mashamoquet at different times and for different reasons. This page is a combination of previously published slightly divergent pages. I don't know for sure, but Mashamoquet might be … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Biology & Geology, Hikes, Bikes & Paddles, Hiking Challenges, New Post, State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites Tagged With: Calvin, Damian, Hikes with my Boys, Mashamoquet Brook State Park, Pomfret, Sky's the Limit Challenge, Swimming

Wharton Brook State Park & Pitch Pine Natural Area Preserve

April 12, 2023 by Steve Leave a Comment

Pitch Imperfect Wharton Brook State Park & Pitch Pine Natural Area Preserve, North Haven & Wallingford April 2023 Central Connecticut took a serious hit in May 2018 from a rather strong tornado. It took down a ton of trees at Sleeping Giant State Park and continued eastward to Wallingford where it heavily damaged … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hikes, Bikes & Paddles, New Post, State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites Tagged With: natural area preserve, North Haven, Wallingford

American Legion & Peoples State Forests Intro

April 11, 2023 by Steve Leave a Comment

American Legion & Peoples State Forests Barkhamsted The state bundles these two forests together online and on maps and... well, I guess that's all that matters to me. They are certainly contiguous, split by the west branch of the Farmington River. Most of the "stuff" is in Peoples, but my favorite trail here is in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hikes, Bikes & Paddles, State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites Tagged With: american legion state forest, Barkhamsted, peoples state forest

Mashamoquet Brook State Park Intro

April 10, 2023 by Steve Leave a Comment

Mashamoquet Brook State Park Pomfret Ignoring the two state parks in my proverbial backyard... and ignoring Hammonassett Beach... I think I've been to Mashamoquet more than any other state park. Weird, right? Out in Pomfret? Yeah, we used to go there all the time on the UConn cycling team on hilly Route 44 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Hikes, Bikes & Paddles, State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites Tagged With: Mashamoquet Brook State Park, Pomfret

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • …
  • 25
  • Next Page »
  • Email
  • Facebook

Press & Media Inquiries

Latest Museum Visits

The heart of CTMQ

Totally Random Post!

UHVAAHT

Sponsored Links

Recent Comments

  • Theresa on Frog Rock, Norwich
  • Thomas Parisian on Windsor’s Nuclear Reactor
  • Don E on Windsor’s Nuclear Reactor
  • Kathryn Ralph on Sacred Heart Church (Gone)
  • fukaimori on Graham Thompson Preserve
Disclaimer
Mission Statement
Copyright © 2025 - CTMQ