They have a great trail that goes along the water that it pretty flat it just has a lot of roots…read more The Meriden parks department did a goat walk there and I highly recommend following them to know when the next one is !

USE CAUTION! This trail resides along a steep cliff side (not the main trail area) and may not be…read morefor suitable for a beginner hiker. Dogs are welcome on leash. Oaths are uneven with roots poking through. Watch your step One of my favorite local parks where every season is beautiful! Well maintained and marked trails, fishing areas a free little book library and a path to the rock quarry if lucky to find! If you travel to the far end of the reservoir (main entry area next to trail map) you come to a nice opening along the reservoir. Venture a bit further along the pond to the furthest end of the water; Left brings you further into the woods and over the bridge brings you full loop around the reservoir

We've been to Fisher Meadows a couple of times, sometimes to enjoy the quiet and calm, other times…read moreto enjoy the golden hour, and once to enjoy a warm cup of masala chai surrounded by nature. It is a great spot to witness the magic of different New England seasons.

This recreation center is on 250.45 acres and is open year-round from dawn to dusk. There is a…read moredecent-sized gravel parking lot with a small playground with swings, picnic tables, and a pullup bar. There are two entrances to the trails by this parking lot and playground. I saw a huge field that is used for soccer. On the lake, you can fish and use non motorized boats; a boat launch is available. This recreation area is suitable for walking, jogging, hiking, cross-country skiing, biking, canoeing, bird watching, picnicing, and camping; for camping, you need to get permission from the Town of Avon. I walked the red trail then got off that trail halfway and walked by the well pump building; this brought me back to the parking lot. That walk was about 2.54 miles because I didn't want to do the bigger loop. On the AllTrails app, there are two trails in the park; Spring Lake and Fisher Meadows Loops. The walk was easy but there were some flooded and muddy areas. I have a feeling it is buggy in the summer but on this fine sunny March day, it was very pleasant except for getting my sneakers wet. Overall, a great space to enjoy the great outdoors.

A park with a spectacular view!…read more Talcott Mountain State Park is a 574-acre park located in Simsbury. Parking was spacious. The trail to the Heublein Tower is 1.25-miles long. The Tower can be seen from various parts of the state. It's a beautiful, white, 165-foot high tower with 360 degrees view. The trail was wide and on gravel. There was recent heavy rains so some of the trails had some washout. The hike was mostly up hill with some flat areas; I'd say it's moderate but it was a little bit more challenging for me because I was baby-wearing my child. My toddler did great on it. There were a couple of benches and logs to sit on along the way; pet waste receptacles were seen. My only qualm were the bugs, so don't forget bug spray like we did. Once we got to the top, there were a couple of porta potties and a kiosk. The view of the tower up close was exhilarating, so much history. There was an informational movie on in the garage with benches. There was a huge picnic pavilion and picnic tables throughout; a giant BBQ pit and another small one. The Heublein Tower was beautiful and built in 1914; it can withstand 100-mph winds. The staircases going up and down were meant to be one way; this was a great way to reduce pedestrian congestion and a fire hazard. There were historic relics and rooms decorated the way it was back in the day. Informational signage throughout the space. The tower used to be the summer home for Gilbert Heublein; a successful businessman whose company acquired Smirnoff Vodka and A1 Steak Sauce. The view from the ballroom was amazing and breathtaking. They had signs showing what we can see based on the direction. The hike back down the trail was easier, becareful though, some of the gravel were slippery and I saw a kid fall. Overall, a great hike and the view was worth it!

Amazing and easy hike with the gals. The view is amazing from the top. It is a great hike to chat…read morewith people and too far from Hartford

Whenever I'm dog sitting/house sitting for my parents, I take their dog here for a walk. It amazes…read moreme how many people (and their dogs) immediately recoginze him! Its a short loop in Belding, but the trails hook off to a hike that can take you cross the state. There's a couple of small waterfalls, and the trail criss-crosses over a small stream/river. There is even a trail that runs up a small hill to the remenants of a chimney. Belding is a relaxing small recreationl/hiking area thats worth a visit.

With fields, forest, steams and wetlands -- it's no wonder you'll see birds, warblers, wood frogs…read moresinging about. Cold springs feed the Tankerhoosen River which runs along the area. If you take a look, you'll be surprised to see that the river even sustains a wild trout population. Fishing and hiking are popular at Belding. You'll see dog-walkers and occasionally some runners too, but for the most part Belding is a pretty quiet and low traffic area. Take a stroll onto the Blue-Blazed hiking trail system. There's a fairly easy 1.5 mile loop that can be accessed by both the Shenipsit Trail or Belding Path.

"I wants to walk you home Please let me walk you home…read moreYou look so good to me I wish I was the lucky guy who could walk you right on down the aisle" (Fats Domino) The Farmington Canal Heritage Trail has a 56.5 mile portion running through Connecticut from New Haven to Suffield. It criss-crosses and loops with the Farmington River Trail creating a terrific network of trails and pathways for bicyclists, joggers, dog walkers and leisurely walkers like us. We parked in Avon's Thompson Road lot which was extraordinarily spacious, picked up the trail and walked to the right crossing from Avon into Farmington. The walking path is wide, flat and unencumbered with rocks, tree roots, trash and dog debris. If you want an easy low impact place to walk you won't find many easier walking trails. The only thing that I noticed was the scenery is rather bland. We did see three types of fences (wood, chain link and vinyl) bordering some of the steep inclines and marshy areas, but besides the fence there wasn't much interesting things to see. Well, I take that back, because we did see something quite bizarre on the side of the trail -a disembodied deer leg with a hoof at one end and a section of the ribcage on the other end. This led us to all sorts of speculation on the origin of that body part - where did it come from? Did a bear or a coyote or a human being contribute to its demise? What on earth happened to the rest of the corpse? Next time we visit we'll walk to the left toward Simsbury. Who knows what natural wonders we'll find then?

Awesome trail. Tons of miles of fun historical fun on the way riding. It is also e-bike friendly as…read morewell.

"We're after the same rainbow's end Waitin' 'round the bend…read moreMy huckleberry friend" (Johnny Mercer, Henry Mancini) We followed some of the assorted and differing directions we found on-line for the Huckleberry Hill Recreation Area but could never find a true Recreation Area. All we found was a very narrow trail that needed some TLC because it was overgrown with roots and limbs and obstacles. There are quite a few true parks and recreational areas in Avon with playgrounds and ball fields, and facilities, so I have a feeling something has been misnamed somewhere out in Cyber Space. Anyway, the Yelp address found on this page brings you to the aforementioned trail, which might be ideal for a hard-core hiker that brings along a 55-gallon drum of bug spray.

This is an interesting park. George Dudley Seymour State Park is adjacent to Hurd State Park, it's…read morejust to the south of it. Access to the park is at the end of Clarkhurst Road, which basically dead-ends at what used to be a bridge for cars, but now is a pedestrian bridge. There's a small gravel lot here, across from a private residence. The first part of the park is interesting - after you cross the bridge, you're still hiking on old roadway, down the hill. Once at the bottom of the hill, there are a number of meandering little trails, none of which are blazed. If you follow the main trail, you eventually end up in a semi-marshy area, where paths have been mowed. This would be a great park if there were a little more signage and trail blazing. Just even an entrance sign would be enough.

Sweetheart Mountain Trails is on 63 acres and it used to be the Canton Ski Club. The ski club was…read morein operation from 1948 to 1975. There was a good sized parking area. The trailhead has an informational kiosk as well as an old ski lift. There are multiple trails totaling 2.5 miles at different difficulty levels. My family and I went on a balmy autumn day in October. The fall foliage was at peak season and the leaves were piled up on the trails. Since it was warm, there were some mosquitoes. We hiked the blue with white dot and a little bit of the blue trails. The trails were easy to navigate. The trails had quite a few ascends and descends. There were some stairs and remnants of the old ski club throughout (electric pole, ski trails, concrete structures, rock walls, even an old car bumper, etc.). Houses can be seen from parts of the trail; it's not a completely isolated hike, we heard some traffic at some parts of the trail also. We even hiked to the entrance of the Sweetheart Mountain housing complex. We enjoyed stopping at a couple of the lookouts; you can see the hills from a distance. I highly recommend using the AllTrails app. We did walk onto a private trail by accident but AllTrails helped us get back on track. Overall, a fun trail to get your sweat on and enjoy nature.