Everything Torrington 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” Torrington CTMQ-style... as well as the other 168 towns, cities, and boroughs in Connecticut. That is the ultimate goal of CTMQ. … [Read more...]
Sunnybrook State Park Intro
Sunnybrook State Park Torrington Sunnybrook is weird in the sense that it's a state park with a bunch of trails that are also part of the CFPA Blue Trails network as the Alain and May White Nature Trails. Sure, this is just an artifact of something or other, but it confuses my hierarchies on CTMQ. The park only … [Read more...]
Burr Pond State Park Intro
Burr Pond State Park Torrington & Winchester Grrrr Pond State Park... I know I knew this, but did you know that when Connecticut designates a state park in the middle of a state forest, its land is no long state forest land? So every time you see that I have a state park listed as part of a state forest, I think … [Read more...]
Torrington’s Town Trails
Torrington's Town Trails Oof, this is a tough one. Torrington - and this is a good thing! - has a few state parks and two of them are connected by the CFPA's John Muir Trail and the Paugnut State Forest. Fine. No big deal. Except that the town has attached a bunch of spur trails and connecting trails to the … [Read more...]
Paugnut State Forest Intro
Paugnut State Forest Torrington & Winchester Though Paugnut sounds like a kind of tree, it was supposedly a Native American chief back in the day. There is some dispute about the veracity of this claim. Regardless, we now have a decently sized state forest that more or less connects two state parks in Torrington. … [Read more...]
Heritage Land Preservation Trust
Heritage Land Preservation Trust Trails I am writing this sentence a few days shy of 2021, which means I've been writing and maintaining this website for well over 14 years. I've hiked hundreds of miles around Connecticut and have created hundreds of "intro" pages for land trusts and other similar entities. … [Read more...]
280. KidsPlay
And Play And Play And Play And Play... Torrington (Google Maps location) November 1, 2014 As the only person who has ever even thought about visiting all of Connecticut's museums, I do often think about how lucky I am to have children. Not only do they provide great cover at many places I drag them to, they have … [Read more...]
281. Ritz Crystal Balloom Lighting and Style Museums
Just Plain Crackers Torrington (Google Maps location) November 1, 2014 The Ritz Crystal Room and Ritz Cafe have permanently closed, but everything on this page remains open as as January 2021. This place confuses me. It confused me when I visited and it confuses me now as I write. The confusion stems from the … [Read more...]
Christmas Village
HO-HO-HO... NO-NO-NO Christmas Village, Torrington December 2017 I do not like lines. I avoid them at all costs. If you read everything I ever write on CTMQ, you’ve noticed that I’ve done my best to avoid lines at the places in Connecticut with lines: Sally’s Apizza, Pepe’s Pizza, Lake Compounce, and a few … [Read more...]
TSTL’16.3: Burr Pond State Park
The Sky's the Limit 2016 Hiking Challenge #3 Burr Pond State Park, Torrington March 6, 2016 There are many rewarding things about being a father. One of them is greeting your child on a sunny weekend morning and hearing him say, "Hike? Today?" Hey listen, that came from my special needs kid. He's not … [Read more...]