Owens Brook Trail Simsbury Land Trust November 2013 This page is stupid, as this trail hasn't existed since maybe 2000 or so - but appeared in the first version of the Simsbury Walk Book I owned. Don't even read this page. Seriously. I went to see longtime online friend and Courant writer Peter Marteka give a … [Read more...]
Read this first
Roaring Brook Nature Center Trails
Roaring Brook Nature Center Trails Nature Center/State Land, Canton August & October 2013 I’ve been to Roaring Brook a whole bunch of times - (here’s the first time Damian and I visited the nature center museum – notable as it was the first time he stood up on his own and let go of a supporting structure... at 27 … [Read more...]
Woodbury’s Town Trails
Woodbury's Town Trails Fun fact: Someone from Philly or the surrounding area will likely pronounce Waterbury and Woodbury so similarly, you won't be able to tell the two apart in conversation. I used to be like that until my (now) wife fixed me. I used to also think that towns themselves didn't have … [Read more...]
Town Owned Trails
169 Towns, 10,069 Trails (est.) Town Managed/Owned Trails This section has always been sort of hard to define, but now that I've focused more on what's out there in the woods, I've come to love it. Almost every trail you'll navigate to through this page is on land owned by the town it is in. That's the idea … [Read more...]
Farmington River/Tariffville Walk
Drugs are a Dead End Farmington River/Tariffville Walk, Simsbury Land Trust October 2013 Ok, listen: You can skip this one. With so many beautiful and darn near pristine land trust properties in Simsbury, this one doesn’t really need to be on your list. Oh sure, it’s a lovely and important property – but it’s … [Read more...]
Onion Mountain Park
Nothing to Cry About Onion Mountain Park trails, Simsbury April 21, 2013 In 2022, the Canton Land Conservation Trust linked this park to Roaring Brook Nature Center via the Onion Mountain Trail. I am falling in love with West Simsbury and North Canton. They have a "wildness" to them that is especially cool in … [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 It's not often one can take their little kid on a hike in early January in Connecticut. Well, I suppose I should say back when I was a kid, this would never happen. But since we get … [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...]
Hazen Park & Skyline Trails
Secret Hazen Ritual Hazen Park & Skyline Trails, Avon Land Trust (Avon) January 2011 Hazen Park is Town of Avon property. The Hazen Trail Extension and the Skyline Trail are on Avon Land Trust land. Now you know. The Skyline Trail had been on my to-do list for a couple years. I'd heard from a hiking friend that … [Read more...]
182. Wadsworth Mansion at Long Hill Estate
It’s a Lovely Building, For What That’s WadsWorth Middletown (Google Maps location) August 4, 2010 My visit to this place came at the end of a full day of traveling around central Connecticut for CTMQ. I had some food stops and a bunch of National Historic Landmark stops down in New Haven, but looking back upon … [Read more...]