Sunnybrook State Park

It was DEEP’s 2018 Sky’s the Limit Challenge that led us to Sunnybrook State Park in Torrington, Connecticut.

The trail begins with a tree-lined stroll

A bridge took us over this pretty stream

We rounded the bend and enjoyed this idyllic scene

Twenty minutes into our stroll, we stopped for a photo in front of this enormous boulder. An internet search revealed that this rock has a name, Dino Testone Boulder, named after a Connecticut mineralogist. It's a glacial erratic - a boulder transported and deposited by a glacier. Having been transported from another area, the boulder has characteristics that are different from the surrounding mineralogy.

Some trail sections are softened by a blanket of pine needles, which always makes for a pleasant walk. Others are dotted with moss-covered stones.


We enjoyed seeing ferns, wildflowers, and a wide variety of interesting fungi.

The beauty of fungi always surprises me.

Although this was a relatively easy trail, it did have enough ups and downs to burn around 600 calories! It was good exercise and a very enjoyable hike.

Address: 1612 Newfield Road, Torrington CT 06790 (easy to find, plenty of parking)
Online Map: https://www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/stateparks/skysthelimit/Sunnybrook.pdf
Length: 3.5 miles
Runkeeper map: https://runkeeper.com/user/SusanGayle/route/4807865
Difficulty Level: Easy
Calories: 600 

Comprehensive Map - Connecticut Hiking Trails

If you're looking for trail info, this resource should be helpful!

To open go to : http://j.mp/2HR6WhH

There are two ways to navigate the map:

• By location - zoom in using the plus arrow in the bottom right corner, click on a marker and the info will appear. 

• By name - If the list isn’t showing on the right side, click on the double chevron in the right hand corner (under the words “sign-in or sign-up”). The list of hikes appears in alphabetical order. Click on the name and and the marker will open.

Example of what you see when you click on a marker

The Runkeeper Route is available for every hike listed. This is the route that Valley Hikers hiked. If you have a Runkeeper account, you can download this route onto your phone and follow it, just as you would follow the GPS in your car.  

Videos on how to use Runkeeper are on my Youtube channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjMMm0MxPlGIiioDCiYBkRQ

If you have questions, please feel free to contact me. I'll be adding new trails as we hike them. So many trails, so little time!

Leatherman's Cave

Connecticut offers an abundance of choices in hiking. There are quiet trails padded with pine needles, bumpy trails full of criss-crossing tree roots, and steep trails that prompt me to inch down on my fanny to keep from hurtling down.

Other trails are rocky and steep enough to require scrambling, which adds to the fun. 

And then there are the soothing sounds of babbling brooks with mossy, emerald-green rocks.

Sometimes there are huge boulders, and if you’re lucky you can explore "caves." 

Some trails reward you with a spectacular view. 

Surprisingly, all these photos were taken on the same hike! Mattatuck State Forest has it all. Those in our group commented often about the variety of terrain we experienced.

We began at the north parking lot at Black Rock State Park, crossed the street and started on the blue/yellow-blazed Branch Brook Trail. The trail was well-marked and easy to find. 

Soon we came to this pretty scene.

We turned south onto the blue Mattatuck Trail and then started our ascent. This is where the real fun began. It was drizzling, so the rocks were wet. On a dry day this would be much easier. This rock, even though it looks flat in the photo, was probably at a 45 degree angle. I don’t really know - I wasn’t thinking about angles. All I was thinking was, “How am I going to get up that thing?” There was nothing to grasp. It was smooth, wet and slick.

I started on my hands and knees and promptly slid down. I tried army crawling and slid back down. Eventually I prayed my way up. When I reached the top, I turned around to take a picture. That’s when I realized that my cell phone had fallen out of my pocket and was half way down the rock.

Ugh. At first I just sat there staring at it. Then I realized if went on my stomach and stretched as far as I could, I wouldn’t have to go down too far. I grabbed my phone and backed up feet first, lying on my stomach. Luckily, no one was videoing that little debacle!

Eventually we made it to the Leatherman’s Cave and had fun exploring the area. 

Then it was onward and upward to Crane’s Lookout.

We'd love to return and see this panorama in the summer and fall

The rainy conditions added to our adventure

Peeks of spring! 

Many more rocky, slippery, ups and downs were ahead. Then we crossed the street and entered Black Rock State Park, where the peacefulness washed over us as we entered the trail cushioned by pine needles. 

The state park was very pretty, if we weren’t so tired we would have explored more. 

This was such a fun hike. I look forward to returning on a sunny, dry day!

Address: 2065 Thomaston Rd, Watertown, CT 06795

Map for Black Rock State Park: http://www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/stateparks/maps/blackrockgis.pdf

Map for Mattatuck State Forest: http://www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/stateparks/maps/mattatucksf.pdf

Length: approximately 4.5 miles

Difficulty Level: Moderate with some harder spots.

Calories: 1175

Case Mountain

Case Mountain can be easy if you take the Carriage Trail, but where’s the adventure in that? I could have been discouraged in my confusion and despairing of my abilities if I hadn’t googled Hartford Courant’s Peter Marteka, my favorite nature writer:

Manchester's Case Mountain recreation area . . . has a reputation of swallowing up hikers and mountain bikers so they have to dial 911 for a rescue. -January 11, 2009 

While hiking the Case Mountain trail system, be wary of the spinning heads of fellow nature lovers and mountain bikers. The spinning heads may be from trying to navigate the numerous trails that spread out across the park . . .  -November 14, 2000

Just looking at the printed map can make your head spin, but kudos to the town of Manchester for providing the map! Fortunately, most of the trails are well marked, but if not for my Runkeeper app, this hike might have been a bit daunting.

We began on the wide Carriage Path and then moved on to the pink-blazed trail, taking the left fork of the trail.

This is a loop trail that leads to the Lookout Mountain summit, with a view of Hartford and beyond. It’s a quick walk to a nice reward if you're pressed for time, as the total distance to complete this loop and return to your car via the Carriage Path is just over a mile and a half. We reached the summit in 25 minutes.

Some young hikers had spent the night at the summit and were rolling up their sleeping bags when we arrived. Their campfire was still smoking, and we joked about making S’more’s. Turns out they actually had made S’more’s and offered us some! We meet such nice people on the trails.

Rather than completing the pink loop, we took the yellow trail directly opposite of the view and came upon this interesting burl:

Next we turned right onto the blue-blazed Shenipsit Trail and headed toward the Birch Mountain summit. Unless we missed it, there is no view from the summit, and we moved on to the blue/yellow trail. The rocks along this path were impressive, and we found a great place for our devotional.

Deuteronomy  8:7 “For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land –  a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills.” 

There is a moment in hiking that is especially pleasurable - boot removal. There's nothing like loosening the laces, pulling the boots off, peeling off sweaty socks, and reveling in the accomplishment of the day’s hike. 

We experience this in daily life too. During the ritual of removal at the end of the day - loosening a tie, removing dress shoes, or dropping a book bag to the floor - we may be tempted to be proud of what we accomplished that day. But we mustn't forget that we are created beings. God has given us the strength for what we have accomplished. 

On the trail we struggle to traverse mountains, but we are using legs created by Him. Those mountains we climb were created by Him, and they tremble in His presence. As we walk through life, we might wear the boots, but He wears the crown! (adapted from With God on the Hiking Trail by Nathan Chapman)

I had wanted to check out a grotto that is shown on the Runkeeper map. It’s not on a marked trail, so I missed it. But in studying the map at home, I realized that I happened to take a photo right where we should have turned. So if you want to see the grotto, turn right at this rock, which shows a blue/yellow blaze:

We moved on to the Case Mountain Summit. No view, but we still enjoyed the path. We met up with the blue-blazed Shenipsit trail again, headed back to the beginning, and then I got a little confused and almost took us back to the pink trail. Fortunately we ran into a hiker who pointed us to an unmarked trail that lead back to the Carriage Path. Following this trail brought us back to the path and to our cars.

This is the corrected route. The map can be found at https://runkeeper.com/user/SusanGayle/route/4449135

Address:  680 Spring Street, Manchester CT

Trail map:http: www.mdogct.com/documents/Casemountainmap.pdf

Length: 3 miles

Duration: 2 hours, 25 minutes

Difficulty level: Easy to moderate

Calories: 612

Belden Forest

Hopmeadow Street in Simsbury is a hopping place! This busy thoroughfare has a bit of everything - groceries, coffee shops, baked goods, wine, jewelry - and you will even find a forest where you can forget the hustle and bustle and enjoy a peaceful walk among giant pines.

We started on the first trail we saw and quickly ran into a "No Trespassing" sign.  We decided to walk little farther and see if we could find another trail, but ended up on a street. The trail wasn't on my Runkeeper app, but thankfully our friend Judy checked Alltrails.com and found it there. I downloaded the app and, muttering apologies to unseen homeowners, we traipsed through a back yard and found our way to the trail.

This was a nice trail, carpeted with pine needles. The height of the trees was amazing, and I don't know why I didn't think to take a picture that showed them reaching toward the sky. After a few minutes I was surprised to hear a siren, forgetting that we were in the midst of Simsbury.

We saw some interesting fungi along the way

Just as one can see shapes in the clouds, in the fungus we saw a golf ball, a flower, and a donut!

The trail looped around and we ended where we should have began and came face to face with a nice big sign that we missed when we started.  I felt a little silly having missed it, until we reached the bottom of the hill. There I realized that it is barely visible from the parking lot.

A nearby bench was the perfect place for our devotional time.

John 10:27 "My sheep listen to my voice; and I know them, and they follow me." 

Today we have the luxury of listening to the radio through apps on our smartphones, but there was a time when getting good reception on an AM radio station took some finagling. We would walk around the house pointing the radio this way and that trying to get a good signal. Sometimes we either had to settle with the static, crackles and whistles that accompany a weak signal or give up and turn the radio off.

Sometimes the voice of our Savior can be drowned out by the static of living in a fallen world. And when we get frustrated we are tempted to give up listening. But Jesus promises that we can recognize his voice. Scripture encourages us to tune in to Him and and eagerly listen for Him. We need to make every effort to keep the distractions of the world turned down in order to clearly hear His divine voice. Being in the wilderness or on the trail is a great way to be in touch with God because it lacks those worldly distractions. But even when we can't get to the mountains we can make sure we are tuning in to Jesus, being attentive to what God has to say, and keeping our minds clear so that we can hear His voice.

This was a short hike, so a few of us decided to cross the street and head to the Farmington Canal Trail on Iron Horse Boulevard. Just across from Jim Gallagher Way we found another trail, walked just a few minutes and came to an enchanted path.


After a few minutes more the trail narrowed and, not in the mood for bushwhacking, we turned around and took a brisk walk on the trail beside Iron Horse Boulevard.

While Belden Forest is a small trail, it's a nice oasis to visit when you have a limited amount of time. According to Peter Marteka, the yellow-blazed trail takes you to the top of a ridge where you can view the town. We missed this view, so I'm sure there's more to explore at Belden Forest.

Boy Scout Hall

Address:  Boy Scout Hall, 695 Hopmeadow Street, Simsbury - Entrance is directly opposite Drake Hill Road. Park to the right of the Boy Scout Hall


The trail begins on top of the little hill to the right of this building.

Runkeeper Route: https://runkeeper.com/user/SusanGayle/route/4440621

Length: 1.37 miles

Duration: 1 hour,

Difficulty level: easy

Heublein Tower Via Hazen Park

Update 4/17/18
We did this again without spotting cars. Up and back without a problem. This hike is becoming a favorite of mine. Funny that I thought it was so hard the first time.

Update 5/3/17
In spite of the fact that only one person wanted to repeat this hike (and it wasn't me), we did it again! My issue was not going up, but going down. So we spotted cars, beginning at Hazen Park and ending at the Heublein Tower parking lot. This makes for a very nice short hike. 

The rope mentioned below was gone, and it made me realize that my state of mind has more bearing on a situation than does reality. The first time we did this, we thought it would not have been possible to continue without the rope. This time we were wondering, is this where that rope was? It didn't seem that bad. Did using a rope make it seem steeper than it was? Still, the small loose stones would make me leery of descending, and I'm glad we spotted cars.

Stats for our second trip: 

Length: 2.5 miles

Duration: 1.5 hours

Calories burned: 448

Difficulty Level: Easy to moderate 

8/20/16

Taxi! Taxi! Can we please call a taxi?

There are several ways to get to Heublein Tower, and I was curious to try this route. My curiosity has been satisfied. Been there, done that, won’t do it again. Keep in mind that all things are relative, and we are of a "mature" age. A gentleman who was easily traversing the terrain passed us along the way.

The trail starts out great. Up up up, but not too steep. A nice workout on a path carpeted with pine needles and bordered by ferns.

But the up up up becomes steep steep steep, and I began to have my doubts about the trip down. It's not the physical challenge that concerns me - that was not the problem - it's the fear of injury that caused me to hesitate. Our group decided to press on, and press (and pull) on we did! My iPhone doesn't begin to show how steep this is.

Bless the soul that put this rope here, otherwise we would not have been able to continue

They thought I was kidding when I suggested we call a cab!

Beauty along the way

Our reward!

It was a gorgeous day, and we could see all the way to Mount Tom and beyond. A pavilion with picnic tables provided shelter from the sun, and we enjoyed a nice breeze during our devotional time. This isn't the devotional I shared, but I feel it's appropriate for this hike: 

It’s hard to set aside the time to exercise daily. But if we condition ourselves with daily exercise, we’re able to keep up the pace when we find ourselves making our way up a steep incline on a trail. We don’t usually have to be in great shape to do our daily tasks, but we’re going to need conditioning if we’re going to tackle the mountains. 

Daily conditioning is also important when following Christ. Although we might go through an ordinary day without running into difficult temptations or faith-testing trials, we never know when hard times are on their way. Life's ups and downs require that we strengthen our faith on a daily basis. 

We set aside time for exercise to grow physically, and it’s the same with our Christian journey. If we are not separating ourselves from the world on a daily basis for conditioning and strengthening in Christ, we might find our ability to keep the pace compromised when the trail leads us out of the valley and over the difficult mountains. 

Sometimes life’s trail is difficult, but God will provide the strength needed to make it through. Ask Him for the self-control to prepare as best we can for the mountains that sometimes stand in our way. (Adapted from “With God on The Hiking Trail”)

Psalm 119:15-16:  I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.

I love the challenge of going up a steep hill. I love the feeling of those muscles firing and my heart racing. But going down is scary. I injured my shoulder five months ago. My visits to the physical therapist are winding down, and I am finally close to regaining full function. I didn’t want to take chance on re-injuring that shoulder. There’s a very easy route down the mountain, but that route would leave us three miles away from our cars on Hazen Road. That's three miles walking in the hot sun on pavement. I seriously wanted to take the easy route down and call a cab, but I was voted down. So onward and downward it was!

My friends still referred to me as their “fearless leader.” I told them I will accept that title with some exceptions. I am fearless . . . as long as there is nothing to be afraid of! Especially snakes, spiders, bears, sheer drop offs, and steep descents!

Trail Map: http://www.avonlandtrust.org/x/public/trails/Skyline.pdf

Address: 60 Hazen Drive, Avon

Length: 2.5 miles

Duration: 2 hours

Calories burned: 623

Difficulty Level: Difficult