Farmington Canal Heritage Trail Massachusetts border (Suffield) to New Haven The summer of 2020 - the pandemic summer of 2020 - sort of forced my son Calvin and I to begin riding Connecticut's rails-to-trails in earnest. Nothing was open for visits in any normal way, so why not ride our bikes. Unfortunately, Calvin … [Read more...]
CTMQ’s Guide to Cheshire
Everything Cheshire 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” Cheshire CTMQ-style... as well as the other 168 towns, cities, and boroughs in Connecticut. After all, that is the ultimate goal of … [Read more...]
Cheshire Land Trust Intro
Cheshire Land Trust Cheshire Cheshire's kind of a neat town in terms of its geography. It's big, flat town with a steep wall making its western border. Like, "Come, enjoy Cheshire... just don't go west." Of course, that western ridge offers some of the best views and hiking in this part of the state. I'm not … [Read more...]
Cheshire’s Town Trails
Cheshire's Town Trails I’m grinning. Grinning like the Cheshire Cat. After all, who among us isn’t excited to hike all of Cheshire’s town trails? Even if the town itself notes that some of the properties I’ve listed below are no longer worth seeking out. Of those I know that are, you'll find the longest single-drop … [Read more...]
Naugatuck State Forest Intro
Naugatuck State Forest Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Bethany, Cheshire, Hamden, Naugatuck, Oxford, Prospect & Seymour Naugatuck State Forest consists of five separate blocks in the towns listed above. They are not necessarily all connected either. Basically, when you drive up Route 8 through the valley south of Waterbury … [Read more...]
Quinnipiac Trail Intro
Quinnipiac Trail Hamden, Cheshire, Bethany, Prospect, 18.3 Miles Began: October 2012 Completed: The Quinnipiac Trail is the oldest in the Connecticut Blue-Blazed Hiking Trail System, which is to say, it’s really old. Many tens of thousands of people have hiked at least a part of the trail since its creation … [Read more...]
Bedding Plant Capital of Connecticut
Sleep Tight Knowing This Bedding Plant Capital of Connecticut, Cheshire Normally something like this wouldn’t rate a CTMQ page. But over the years, I’ve come to learn that people often confuse Cheshire’s town motto with what it means – and what they think it means. I actually lived in Cheshire for about 10 … [Read more...]
Cheshire’s Weird Giant Things
Paul Bunyan, Groot, a Gorilla, and a Swan Walk Into a Bar... Cheshire I bet you didn't know that giant roadside (usually) men have a cult following. They are called "Muffler Men" in this world because, apparently, the first giant roadside men all held mufflers. And because this community of weirdos exists, … [Read more...]
TSTL’17.13: Farmington Canal State Park Trail
The Sky's the Limit 2017 Hiking Challenge #13 Farmington Canal State Park Trail, Cheshire September 16, 2017 The story here has nothing at all to do with the historic lock or the walk or the museum that wasn't open - because it's pretty much never open. So let's dispense with all of that off the bat. We … [Read more...]
CocoaShak (RIP)
CocoaWhacked CocoaShak, Cheshire February 13, 2013 (and others) Y'know... This Chocolate Trail thing is a fickle thing. I said fickle, not butter brickle. It was created only a few years ago in 2011 or so, and while it has added a few spots over the subsequent few years, it has already lost three. And if I was a … [Read more...]