Fish the lake and hit the trails, active endeavors
This 10-mile bike ride starts off with hills, then becomes easier. Beginning at the entrance to White Memorial on Rte. 202, right onto Bissel Rd., right onto Alain White Rd., right onto East Shore Rd., right onto Rte. 109, right onto Rte. 209, right onto North Shore Rd, right onto Rte. 202.
Bread Loaf Mountain is steep and can be a challenge, but once you reach the top, the views are beautiful. The trail is clearly marked and well maintained.
If you are looking for rafting and canoe trips with scheduled drop-off and pick-up, then Clarke Outdoors is for you. Rafting on the Housatonic River is generally safe as it moves at a steady pace. Canoeing can be a bit nerve wracking because of the currents and rocks. They provide all of the equipment.
Clarke Outdoors
163 Route 7, West Cornwall
860-672-6365
Rob Nicholas of Housatonic Anglers is a veteran angler, expert fly tier, and guide in the area. He will show you the best places for fishing. Tends to be booked up, so plan ahead.
Housatonic Anglers
26 Bolton Hill Rd., Cornwall
860-672-4457
Whether you ski downhill, snowboard, or just watch, Mohawk is a great place to be on a beautiful winter’s day. The full-service alpine ski center offers rentals, and lessons, and has a ski shop. There are cross-country trails for snow-shoeing and cross-country skiing at the top of the mountain, but they are not maintained or connected to the ski area. Don’t forget there’s dining in the lodge.
Tubing, the latest addition to the lineup of winter fun activities, is now offered Thursday through Sunday.
Mohawk Mountain
46 Great Hollow Rd., Cornwall
860-672-6100
Mohawk State park is known for its fabulous views and fall foliage, and 30 miles of hiking trails complete with bogs and ponds at this wildlife sanctuary. Bring a picnic. Access to the state park is off of Route 4 in Cornwall.
Worth the easy 10-minute hike to get to the spectacular waterfall. Should not be missed, year round. Bring the kids.
Part of the legendary Appalachian Trail, the River Walk trail is flat, well maintained and easy to follow. It is about 4 to 5 miles along the river. Enter the trail from either side, Cornwall or Kent. Enjoy the many types of birds, insects, mammals, water fowl, and plant life.
Brian Cossari is a licensed landscape architect with nearly 30 years of industry experience and now leads the team at Kent Greenhouse and Gardens.
Kent Greenhouse
30 South Main Street, Kent
860-927-4436
Located 5 miles north of Kent on Route 7, this park has a trail loop that goes over the falls and into the forest, and is a designated trout park. But the main attraction is the stunning waterfall dropping 250 feet in under a quarter mile. There’s swimming in the basin at the bottom of the falls. Beautiful all year round. Bring the kids and have a picnic. Can be crowded on weekends in the summer.
The 2,300-acre Macedonia Brook State Park originated with a 1,552-acre gift from the White Memorial Foundation of Litchfield in 1918. The park’s exciting terrain has resulted from the slow wearing down of its hard rock formation base. The Blue Trail crosses Cobble Mountain and several other peaks, offering outstanding views of the Catskills and Taconics. Numerous springs and streams add to the pleasure of hiking.
159 Macedonia Brook Rd.
Nadal Rink is an ice skating rink in Kent where guests can come out and practice their skills on the ice, hone their hockey techniques, and have fun.
Kent School
Macedonia Rd.
This natural area, maintained by Pond Mountain Trust (PMT), is the enduring legacy of the late Myra H. Hopson. Established by Miss Hopson in 1966, the Trust administers nearly 800 acres in Kent, CT.
Pond Mountain Natural Area is open daily from sunrise to sunset. We hope that you will come often to enjoy its unspoiled beauty.
Pond Mountain Trust
120 Fuller Mountain Rd.
860-927-3827
This is the tallest peak in Connecticut. Undermountain Trail is the a popular trail and part of the legendary Appalachian Trail. It’s a long and steep hike, but there are streams, waterfalls, and woodlands, so take your time and enjoy. It is about a 5 to 6 mile round trip, best to plan the day around it.
Another all-day excursion, this is a challenging walk. The reward is the gorgeous view from the top. Along the way, enjoy the wildflowers and the songbirds.
Salisbury School Rink is an ice skating rink where you can go to practice your skills on the ice, from hockey to figure skating.
251 Canaan Rd.
Brookside Farm Market is open everyday 9 – 6pm, offering catering, prepared meals, and fresh produce.
Brookside Farm Market
324 Amity Rd., Woodbridge
203-298-0659
Hilljack Sugar Shack is open 7 days a week, 8am-6pm. There are extended hours for sugaring season. Visitors are encouraged to stop by anytime. Free tours of facilities. School groups welcome. For tours larger than 7, please call ahead to schedule.
Hilljack Sugar Shack
74 Wilson Rd.
860-482-6052
Located within a National Register Historic District along East and West Street.
Part of White Memorial, this lovely boardwalk circles the marsh. A great place to walk with kids and view birds and beavers.
The White Memorial Conservation Center operates an Environmental Education Center and Nature Museum, and is located in the heart of the 4000-acre White Memorial Foundation. The outdoor arena includes the wildlife sanctuary. The Foundation comprises fields, water, and woodlands, trails, campgrounds, boating facilities, and special areas for large outdoor educational and recreational gatherings. The White Memorial has miles of trails for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. It is free and open to the public.
White Memorial Conservation Center
80 Whitehall Rd., Litchfield
860-567-0857
Sandy Beach provides the perfect refuge from the summer heat on Bantam Lake for local residents.
Sandy Beach
East Shore Road, Morris
860-361-6012
Fifteen trails serviced by 5 lifts with one hundred percent snowmaking coverage offering varied terrain choices for skiers. Day and night skiing and snowboarding from early December through late March. Fifteen downhill trails serviced by 5 lifts with one hundred percent snowmaking coverage offering varied terrain choices for skiers and snowboarders of all abilities. Full service rental and repair shop, snowsports shop, modern and spacious lodge with two self-service food courts, apres ski lounge and mountain view decks. Showsports School offers group and private lessons for ages 4 and up.
Ski Sundown
126 Ratlum Rd.
860-379-7669
Instagram: @skisundown
O’Neill Arena is open weekday mornings for skating: Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9am to 1pm, Wednesdays from 9 to 10:15am, and Fridays from 9 to 11:15am through February. The fee is $5 per skater per session.
Canterbury School
101 Aspetuck Ave
Sullivan Farm is a vocational and educational agricultural center that benefits local youth by providing marketable skills through hands-on involvement in 21st century farming and agro-business practices. It also provides opportunities for school children to reconnect with New England’s rich agricultural heritage and learn about the benefits of healthy, fresh, and locally grown produce. Sullivan Farm, through its programs, strives to provide a place to expand youth awareness of their relationship with the environment.
Sullivan Farm
140 Park Lane Road, New Milford
203-470-6386
Instagram: @nmsullivanfarm
The Great Brook Sugarhouse is open to the public and syrup is sold year round. Educational tours of the sugaring operation are available. Call for info and availability. Open house weekends, which include displays of early sugaring techniques, are held during March. Email for dates and times.
Great Brook Sugarhouse
The Sullivan Farm
140 Park Ln
860-210-2030
sullivanfarmnm@gmail.com
The Five Senses Festival is held in a unique outdoor setting and features artistic performances, art installations, activities, and experiences that delight all five senses.
Five Senses Festival
292 Bee Brook Rd., New Preston
860-868-0538
Lake Waramaug State Park has 76 sites in wooded and open settings along the lake. Camping season begins Memorial Day Weekend and ends Labor Day.
Lake Waramaug State Park
30 Lake Waramaug Rd, New Preston
860-868-2592
A mix of meadow, farmland, wooded ridge, and wetlands located north of Route 202.
Steep Rock Association
124 Christian St, New Preston
860-868-9131
Roughly nine hundred acres of Mattatuck State Forest are in Plymouth. The Forest is open to many kinds of outdoor recreation, including hiking and birdwatching. The Mattatuck Trail runs through the Forest. The Whitestone Cliffs, located off of Rt. 262, are a popular rock climbing area.
Mattatuck State Forest
860-567-5694
The Town Forest is a 53-acre woodland that was donated to the Town as open space for the Plymouth Heights subdivision. The Forest is located near the end of Watchtower Road, about 0.3 miles from the intersection with Mt. Tobe Road. The town owns a 50′ wide right-of-way between two houses for access. Look for a weatherbeaten sign at the trail entrance. A 1-mile hiking trail, marked with white blazes, leads from the entrance sign into the forest. The first half of the trail goes downhill, and the last half is uphill, but not excessively so. But you’ll work up a sweat, so be prepared. The Town Forest is not well known, but it is a beautiful place for a hike.
The complex includes three nature sanctuaries along with additional private parcels of land.
Sharon Audubon Center
325 Cornwall Bridge Rd, Sharon
860-364-0520
Instagram: @sharonauduboncenter
The Brothers and Sons Sugarhouse is a great local sugarhouse that is open year round! Free tours available to watch syrup being made during the winter months, February through March. All visits are free, call ahead and book an appointment today! Brothers and Sons Sugarhouse is also accessible to the handicapped. Groups welcome!
Brothers and Sons Sugarhouse
998 Saw Mill Hill Rd, Torrington
860-489-2719
Apple-picking at its best! The Averills have been operating this family farm, Averill Farm, continuously since it was purchased in 1746 from the holdings of Chief Waramaug. The farm is a 260-acre property that is primarily a fruit orchard, but also produces hay and Christmas trees. Numerous varieties of apples and pears are grown in their 27-acre fruit orchard and are sold both as picked fruit and pick-your-own. Their farm stand sells homemade cider, apple cider doughnuts (legendary for their delicate, sweet, natural flavor), jams, jellies as well as locally sourced pies, pumpkins, maple syrup, honey, cheddar cheese, potatoes, garlic and sundry items.
Averill Farm
250 Calhoun St., Washington
860-868-2777
A facility in Washington offering campers age 5 to 13 a variety of athletic and non athletic activities.
27 Mount Tom Road, Washington
860-868-9200
eaglerockday.com
Located Northeast of Washington Depot, Hidden Valley has 700 acres of mixed forests and meadows that overlap and offer around 17 miles of hiking trails with a variety of terrain. Points of interest are The HV Lookout, The Quartz Mine, The Thoreau Bridge, and The Pinnacle. All offer lovely views and great photo spots!
Hidden Valley Preserve
198 Bee Brook Road, Washington Depot
860-868-9131
Gideon Hollister, a leading early resident of Washington, built this house about 1765 for his son Preston. In addition to farming, the enterprising Gideon operated a sawmill, a trading post, and a potash works; he also held civic and military posts. Succeeding generations of Hollisters occupied the house until the middle of the 20th century and continued to be important in Washington. Open fields, barns and other outbuildings on the property bear witness to the homesteads ongoing use as a farm. In the latter part of the 20th century, the house became, like many other Litchfield County farmsteads, a weekend home.
Because Washington was still remote in the mid-18th century, the house’s architecture is simple. Its saltbox form is uncommon in the region (only three exist today in Washington), and the finishes are plain. Later additions maintained this overall simplicity. Although it is not old enough to contribute to the homestead’s historic significance, the garden is noteworthy. The gardens were begun in 1979 by George Schoellkopf and planned to compliment the old house and the surrounding landscape. The garden unfolds in a successive series of “rooms” bordered by walls and hedges which create an architectural framework for the romantic abundance of the plantings. The garden is open to the public late April to mid-October.
300 Nettleton Hollow Road, Washington
860-868-2200
hollisterhousegarden.org
Instagram: @hollisterhousegarden
Start at the Washington town beach on East Shore Rd in New Preston and follow the road around the lake for a total of 8 miles. Beautiful scenic road.
Linen Rink ice skating is open to the public for family skates on Sundays from 4:45 to 7 pm.
Gunnery School
99 Green Hill Rd
Lufkin Rink offers three family skates to the public each year. Dates for the remaining two open skates will be announced. They also offer lessons to students and their siblings who wish to learn to glide across the ice.
Rumsey Hall
201 Romford Rd
Litchfield County’s favorite beach is located in Mount Tom State Park. Offerings include boating, swimming, fishing, hiking with memorable views, among others…The beach has a perfect sized swimming area and a nearby lookout tower to explore.
860-567-8870
Mount Tom State Park
This 998-acre preserve offers hiking trails that follow the river banks and lead to breathtaking views including the Railroad Tunnel, Holiday House, and Steep Rock Summit.
Steep Rock Association
2 Tunnel Rd, Washington Depot
860-868-9131
Spreading around 1,000 acres, Steep Rock is the association’s largest preserve. Take in the flora and fauna along the flat trail that runs alongside the river’s edge, or venture through the old hemlock forests to the summits peak.
There is 3 main points of interest to checkout while exploring, Railroad Tunnel, Holiday House, and Steep Rock Summit.
Steep Rock Association
2 Tunnel Road, Washington Depot
860-868-9131
Instagram: @steeprockassociation
Located in the center of Washington Depot, and of Litchfield County too, The Judy Black Park is a place where the community comes together. It is a place that welcomes artists, musicians, actors, dancers and audiences of all ages. It is home to outdoor movies, farmers markets, children’s arts and crafts, holiday celebrations, tributes to town volunteers, art exhibits, and much more. We take pride in the park and the evolutionary role it plays in our community and we are grateful for the support of the donors, event sponsors, and volunteers who helped to create this place that plays the literal and figurative role as the town square at the very crossroads of our community.
1 Green Hill Road, Washington Green
info@judyblackpark.org
thejudyblackparkandgardens.org
Instagram: @thejudyblackpark
Each year Flanders Nature Center taps and collects sap in February and March from dozens of trees at the nature center and around town. They have a lovely sugar house, Flanders nature Center Maple Sugar House, which is open for tours.
Flanders Nature Center
5 Church Hill Rd, Woodbury
203-263-3711
Hogpen Hill Farms is a 243-acre tree farm and landscape sculpture park in Woodbury with over 100 Edward Tufte artworks. Drive-ins are welcome when the art park is open and admission fee is $80 per car.
Hogpen Hill Farms
100 Weekeepeemee Rd
The Woodbury Sugarshed is open to the public. Saturdays and Sundays from the end of February through the end of March for maple syrup demonstration hours, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Open daily year round.
Woodbury Sugarshed
41 Washington Rd
203-263-4550
info@thefarmwoodbury.com