Farmington River Trail
Dates visited: 9/20/2020 & 9/30/2021
See Also: Farmington, Burlington,
Canton, Simsbury
This part of the Farmington River Trail goes through the historic Collinsville section of
Canton. There are some nice scenic views here.
The trail passed by the future home of the Canton Dog Park (which I think has opened by
now.) We came back a year later and finished the
Canton portion of the trail by crossing the long bridge into Burlington.
Collinsville Main Street
Dates visited: 9/30/2021 & 10/29/2022
We walked around the historic Main Street in Collinsville, as part of our visit to the Farmington River Trail.
We returned the following year for the 29th Annual Collinsville Halloween Parade. Mandy and Lexi got into the action, and they dressed up as
black cats.
Nepaug Reservoir
Date visited: 12/26/2020
The Nepaug Reservoir is a nice walk around the reservoir, passing through the towns
of New Hartford and Canton. We did this walk on
the day after Christmas.
Jane Goedecke Preserve & Humphrey Wood Lot
Date visited: 6/24/2021
These two different properties are maintained by Canton Land Trust. The two adjacent properties
include a trail that offers a scenic
view of Cherry Brook. There is a nice loop at the end of the trail. The whole trail is a little
over one mile. The beginning of the
trail runs in-between some resedential private properties. The start of the trail is noisy, due
to the two large dogs in a pen on
one of the properties. On the way back, one of the dogs jumped the pen and came rushing toward
us, but luckily backed off last minute.
Other than that, it was a nice trail. Driving home from here in Barkhamsted we saw a bear cross
the road.
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Roaring Brook Nature Center
Date visited: 6/6/2022
The Nature Center is an educational place, with programs and exhibits geared for kids. We
hiked the trails behind the Nature Center.
The set of trails directly behind the center are easy trails with educational signage along
the way. These are probably geared for kids.
The yellow blazed Quarry Trail crosses the street and forms a loop that becomes more
challenging. This part of the trail was rocky and rooty.
It runs along side "Jim Brook Falls", but the waterfall is more of a cascade than a full
fledge waterfall. We hiked a very pleasant
mile and a half.
Swibold Trail
Date visited: 8/11/2022
This is a pretty basic walk in the woods. The trail is well maintained, but the property just isn't all that interesting. The sounds of gunfire
nearby didn't help matters.
The Shops at Farmington Valley
Date visited: 11/13/2022
This is an open air shopping area similar to Evergreen Walk, but not as nice and not as
dog friendly. There are better stores here, but less that actually allow dogs inside. We came here because it rained all day, but started to clear in
the afternoon. All the standard trails were too wet and muddy, and there wasn't enough daylight left to go anywhere else.
Sweetheart Mountain Trails
Date visited: 6/5/2023
There's a large series of trails here. We hiked the blue and white dot blazed trail, which is a brand new trail from
Canton Land Trust. The trail heads down a steep hill to a loop through the woods surrounded by ferns. It's a quick,
chalelenging hike. We explored a side trail, but it turned out to lead to private property, so we turned around. We
only hiked a bit over a mile, but with the steep hill it was a good workout.
