CFPA Headquarters

Feeling Blue (Blazes)
CT Forest & Park Headquarters, Middlefield
Multiple Visits

This isn’t really something that would typically get a page on this website. But since this website is my website, and since I love CFPA and wanted to give them their due, this page now exists for your reading pleasure.

But first, a mild rant: I have not been able to see inside the newly renovated (as of 2026) building. I’d been inside previously and have enjoyed conversation with a former Executive Director and staff (Hello Eric and Terri!). The building is open to the public, but only Monday-Thursday until 3:30 PM. These are not ideal hours for a corporate worker such as myself, but of course I could sort it out.

So I did. Twice. Once in a while, I will take random full days off of work to just do my CTMQ thing. I recently shifted a Friday off to be a Thursday off. First stop: CFPA HQ in Middlefield.

Closed. This happened to me several months prior as well. Now, there were cars in the lot and I believe there were people in the building. I could have hassled them and called and whatever, but that’s not my style. (Also, as I’d been inside before I didn’t really care, but I wanted a few pictures to fill out this page. If you see pictures of the interior on this page, that means I reached out to people who work – or used to work – there and they provided them to me.)

As this is CFPA, I can’t stay mad at them for long. I love CFPA. Always have, always will.

The Connecticut Forestry Association was founded by a group of concerned citizens who met at the Weatogue home of Reverend Horace Winslow on December 30, 1895. The association’s founding coincided with a growing interest in conservation and forestry, driven in part by early environmentalists such as Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot. The formal organization of the association occurred on Arbor Day in 1896 when a constitution and statement of purpose was adopted by the members.

I can’t help but mention that Pinchot was born and raised in Simsbury (that’s where Weatogue is) and Connecticut’s largest tree, the Pinchot Sycamore, is there. Pinchot went to Yale before his various government stints so it’s no surprise that the early history of the association was intertwined with the Yale Forestry School founded in 1900.

In 1928, the Connecticut Forestry Association changed its name to the Connecticut Forest and Park Association. The name change reflected the association’s interest in recreation and leisure. Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, the CFPA participated in the establishment of the state park system. The CFPA and its early members were crucial in the acquisition of the Peoples State Forest; Mohawk State Forest; Talcott Mountain; Gillette Castle; and state parks such as Hammonasset, Sherwood Island, Rocky Neck, Bluff Point, and Sleeping Giant.

Those are some heavy hitter parks right there. Of course, my main interest in CFPA is hiking their blue-blazed trails. The whole idea for the trails was established in 1929. Several years later, in 1937, the first Connecticut Walk Book was published as a guide to the hiking trail system. A key proponent of the Blue-Blazed Hiking Trails was Edgar L. Heermance who is commonly known as the “father of the Blue Blaze Trails”.

I love maps. I’ve written before how there have been times when my wife will stroll past me looking at a map, or a book of trail maps, and go do something for an hour only to stroll back by me to see me doing the same thing. She’s used to it after being married to me for so long, but she still silently shakes her head in bafflement.

So imagine my joy at being able to look at those old Walk Books, as I’ve done at the headquarters before. I have one here somewhere – not quite 1937 old, but pretty darn old nonetheless.

The last Walk Book was published in 2017 and it signaled a big change. Previous editions came in pairs (East and West) and were in a 3-ring binder format. So you’d take the few pages of the maps and descriptions with you on your hike. I loved that. In 2017 they removed all the anecdotes and attendant stories with the trails and published it as a single bound volume. With the maps being online now, CFPA found publishing the physical book redundant and they weren’t seeing the ROI anymore. I fear we’ve seen the last Walk Book, which really bums me out, because it’s really cool to see where the trails I’m familiar with have changed over time. And it’s not all negative change either, as so many trails used to follow roads much, much more than they do now.

And a large part of the reason why is the efforts of CFPA. The CFPA has a long history of lobbying the state government on issues such as the environment, forestry, wildlife, recreation, and trails. I’ve learned over my decades of hiking around Connecticut how much effort it takes to secure land and easements and permissions. I’ve learned why some trails often squeeze between McMansions and such. And I appreciate every single person who works on behalf of our trail system.

The CFPA’s work is never done. Some of their initiatives take decades and some just take a volunteer maintainer and a chainsaw. Remember, every powerful storm we have here results in trees falling across trails. Those things don’t just disappear on their own. Blazes need to be re-blazed, bridges need to be built, washouts need to be remediated… on and on. When I retire, I plan to volunteer for the CFPA for sure.

And they add trails every so often too! Several have been added since I began this website. And any time I can talk about the mythical East-West Trail, I smile from ear to ear. You shoulda been open, CFPA!

In the meantime, I’m slowly completing their Blue-Blazed Hiking Trails Challenge. I’ve never submitted anything to get the awards, but they’re there for you if you’d like – at 50, 200, 400, and 800 miles completed. They’ve stopped awarding patches for their legacy trails (Quinnipiac, Metacomet, and Mattabesset) but I’ve got them! That’s how cool I am.

See? Now that I’m done with writing this page, I’ve already forgotten how mad I was at the locked door and closed sign at 9:30AM on a Thursday. That’s how cool they are to me.

CT Forest & Parks Association
Online CFPA Trails map
CTMQ Hikes CFPA’s Blue Trails Challenge
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