CTMQ

Destroying the myth that there is nothing to do here

green mountain modern house
  • CTMQ’s Town Guides
    • Town Completion Celebrations
  • Museums
    • Museum Visits
  • Hikes, Bikes, & Paddles
    • CFPA Trails & Blue Trails Challenge
    • State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites
    • Land Trust Trails
    • Town Trails
    • Audubon, Nature Conservancy, RWA, and US Army Corps of Engineers Trails
    • Highpointing and Peakbagging
    • Cycling, Multi-Use, & Rails-to-Trails Paths
    • Water Trails
  • Food & Drink
    • Best, Historic, & Unique Restaurants & Foods
    • Classic Diners & True Taverns
    • Homemade Ice Cream, Cheese, & Chocolate Trails
    • Breweries, Brewpubs, & Cideries
    • Wineries & Meaderies
    • Distilleries
  • Everything Else
    • National Designations
    • Firsts, Onlies, Oldests, Largests, Longests, Mosts, Smallests, & Bests
    • Geography
    • Animals, Farms, Gardens, Plants, Trees, Rocks, Waterfalls, & Caves
    • Sports, Thrills, Cruises, Trains, Fairs, Parades, & Events
    • Houses, Communities, Urban Legends, Lighthouses, Libraries, Schools, Businesses, & Theaters
    • Towers, Bridges, Forts, Tunnels, Roads, Canals, Dams, Fishways, Airports, & Ferries
    • Religion, Remembrances, Statuary, & Outdoor Art
    • Cultural, Heritage, & Historic Trails
    • Books, Movies, People, & Stories
  • Non-CT
    • Travel & Vacations
    • World Soccer Stadium Tour
    • Highpointing and Peakbagging
    • Top 100 Novels Project
    • Oscar Movies Project
  • About
    • FAQ
    • Family
    • Smith-Magenis Syndrome
    • Press
CTMQ > Hikes, Bikes & Paddles > Hiking Challenges > TSTL’16.5: Mansfield Hollow State Park

TSTL’16.5: Mansfield Hollow State Park

March 20, 2016 by Steve Leave a Comment

The Sky’s the Limit 2016 Hiking Challenge #5
Mansfield Hollow State Park
, Mansfield
March 19, 2016

After last week’s more-difficult-than-usual hike over in Barkhamsted, I sought out an easier one for us this time around. To keep the boys engaged, I wanted a relatively short and flat Sky’s the Limit Hike.

IMG_0027

And cheating would be okay.

Mansfield Hollow, I thought, would provide all of the above.

If you are completing the challenge, and you didn’t promise your little kids an “easy” hike, this one allows you several nice route choices around the lake from the main parking lot on Bassett Bridge Road. (The Blue Trail through this area is the Nipmuck Trail, which extends from just south of the Mansfield Hollow Dam north up to the Massachusetts border in Union at Bigelow Hollow State Park.)

But yes, we “cheated.” And I don’t feel bad about it at all.

First, we took the required picture at the main lot:

IMG_0017

Then I drove up route 89 to find the hiker’s lot and the yellow trail. After I drove past it, I was curious about other cheat options. Atwoodville Road off of 89 offers an access point to the Challenge goal only about a third of a mile away.

Don’t try this cheat: The road is covered with No Parking signs. It’s not worth upsetting the people who live there just to save some time trying to get your TSTL medallions.

But then… then I noticed something on Google’s satellite imagery. It turns out that you can cheat the heck out of this one.

IMG_0020

Here, Atwoodville Lane is a dead-end off of Atwoodville Road. Look closely and you’ll see a north-south road – and a white truck parked on it. That spot is easily, and I assume legally, accessed down the dead-end road. The unnamed road is an old road that goes from route 89 down to the lake and I’m not sure how far down it you can drive.

Have I wasted enough of your time on this? Hey, I’m just curious about out-of-the-way stuff in Connecticut and abandoned, yet drivable, roads have unlocked lots of cool stuff for me.

As it was, we parked on 89 in a decently sized hiker’s lot. This gave us a hike of maybe 1.25 miles or so – and almost entirely flat. And since I blabbed on about backwoods roads no one cares about, I’ll now just turn this page into a photo-essay. Enjoy!

Sweet! A fight to start things off right.

Sweet! A fight to start things off right.

Amazing that there is still some snow here.

Amazing that there is still some snow here.

Massive red pine near route 89

Massive red pine near route 89 (You can see Damian to the right of the tree for scale.)

The first of what would be 457 things thrown into the lake

The first of what would be 457 things thrown into the lake…

The second.

The second.

Much of the hike was lakeside

Much of the hike was lakeside

And much of the lakeside hike is along this old road

And much of the lakeside hike is along this old road

A cove

A cove

Back into the woods and up a little hill to this view and...

Back into the woods and up a little hill to this view and…

The official challenge point picture. Calvin was (once again) irrationally upset about something - this time it was my inability to change the snack item into something more desirable at the moment.

The official challenge point picture. Calvin was (once again) irrationally upset about something – this time it was my inability to change the snack item into something more desirable to him at the moment.

His spirit picked up with a rock in one hand and a log in the other, with a nice throwing session ahead of him.

His spirit picked up with a rock in one hand and a log in the other, with a nice throwing session ahead of him.

All bliss... Wait for the splash...

Ah, bliss… Wait for the splash…

Splash!

Splash!

His form is getting a better each week.

His form is getting a better each week.

They both thought this tree looked "like a monster"

They both thought this tree looked “like a monster”

Then Calvin tripped and fell and cried and Damian hugged him.

Then Calvin tripped and fell and cried and Damian hugged him.

And there were swans here too

And there were swans here too

We passed some particularly colorful and vulgar graffiti. We got to see a little woodpecker in action right above us at one point. Then it was back up the hill to the car. We drove through UConn’s campus and I again marveled at how much it has changed in the twenty years since I was there.

That’s all I’ve got.

CTMQ’s 2016 The Sky’s the Limit Challenge
CTMQ’s Mansfield Hollow State Park & Wildlife Area Intro
CTMQ’s State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, & Forests
CTMQ’s US Army Corps of Engineers Trails Intro

Facebooktwitterreddit

Filed Under: Hikes, Bikes & Paddles, Hiking Challenges, New Post, State Parks, Reserves, Preserves, Forests, NAPs, WMAs, & Campsites, US Army Corps of Engineers Trails Tagged With: Calvin, Canals and Dams, Damian, Hikes with my Boys, Hiking Challenges with Rewards, Mansfield, mansfield hollow state park, Sky's the Limit Challenge, Tolland County, Windham County

Sponsored Links

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Become a CTMQ Patron!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo

Press & Media Inquiries

Latest Museum Visits

The heart of CTMQ

Totally Random Post!

Middletown Heritage Trail Intro

Sponsored Links

Recent Comments

  • Riffy on New Haven’s Town Trails
  • Brenda Rose Iaquessa on RWA: Lake Gaillard
  • ROBERT FINDLEY on SCELBI Computer Virtual Museum
  • Tom N. on 104. Buttolph-Williams House
  • Jamie on Onion Mountain Park
Disclaimer
Mission Statement
Copyright © 2023 - CTMQ