Went to School and Learned Something Barkhamsted June 2023 I don't know how many one-room schoolhouse living museums I've been to in Connecticut and I don't feel like looking. I'd guess around a dozen with probably just as many left to visit. It can't come as a surprise to you that they are all pretty much … [Read more...]
Beach Rock Vista Trail
Short Walk, Long Peer Beach Rock Vista Trail, Barkhamsted June 2023 Barkhamsted is beautiful. Its cute Riverton village area is a little Connecticut version of a Vermont puzzle scene. I love it. The hiking at Peoples State Forest is good and of course the Tunxis Trail east of the reservoir is fantastic. The … [Read more...]
American Legion & Peoples State Forests Intro
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...]
Enders State Forest Intro
Enders State Forest Barkhamsted & Granby Enders is known primarily for its eponymous waterfall - one of the state's best for sure. Viewing the falls has been made much safer with the installation of stairs, but I'm sure people will still find a way to hurt themselves here. Enders became a state forest in … [Read more...]
Smith Tree Farm Trails
I Give a Hoot About These Places Canton Land Conservation Trust, Canton & Barkhamsted August 2021 In case you were unaware, there are some hills in northwest Canton. One of the bigger hills is Ratlum Mountain. There are several hills just to the west of Ratlum: the one where Ski Sundown is located, and the two the … [Read more...]
Tunxis State Forest Intro
Tunxis State Forest Barkhamsted, Granby, & Hartland Although the CFPA's Tunxis Trail takes hikers south down to Southington, the state forest of the same name only covers land in the northernmost towns along the way. The forest surrounds the Barkhamsted Reservoir and always feels remote. Because it is remote. I … [Read more...]
East-West Trail Intro
East-West Trail Bloomfield to Cornwall, ~60 miles Began: June 2019 Completed: Note: This trail does not yet exist! It won’t be the longest trail in the state and it won’t even be all new trail. But for whatever reason, I’ve been obsessed with CFPA’s proposed hypothetical East-West Trail since I first heard … [Read more...]
CTMQ’s Guide to Barkhamsted
Everything Barkhamsted I’ve been exploring and writing about Connecticut since 2006. After a decade, I began compiling CTMQ guides for each town in the state. I plan on “completing” Barkhamsted CTMQ-style... as well as the other 168 towns, cities, and boroughs in Connecticut. That is the ultimate goal of CTMQ. … [Read more...]
Barkhamsted’s Town Trails
Barkhamsted’s Town Trails Here's the thing about Barkhamsted: It's a wooded and rural town where almost all the land is owned by the state or the MDC. There are four state forests here, plus the massive Barkhamsted Reservoir and Lake McDonough. And there are plenty of great hiking opportunities in town, but … [Read more...]
Book Review: Barkhamsted Lighthouse
You Never Know What Comes in My Mail... Barkhamsted Lighthouse By Kenneth Feder I'm on a current kick of ripping through a giant stack of books I've had stacked for years. Literally years. Literarily years? Literally. Many of these books are what I lump into the category of "Connecticut books," which surely … [Read more...]