◂︎ Mandy & Lexi's Connecticut Adventures
Ridgefield
Ridgefield
Playhouse
Date visited: 4/5/2021
I've been to 10 concerts here since 2010. I was supposed to go to three others here in 2020 that haven't happened due to COVID. I was in the town and remembered the cool smiley face and decided to stop and take some pictures.
Ridgefield Playhouse
Date visited: 4/18/2026
This was one of our stops during our Ridgefield adventure. We walked here after checking out the Ligi's Way boardwalk. I was actually here the night before for a Jon Anderson concert, and I'm going to the second show the next night as well. We took some photos here back in 2021, so we didn't take too many more this time. There is a park area with athletic fields, and a skate park on the grounds. I guess this used to be a high school, and the theater was actually the auditorium. The smiley face ball has been moved to the park from the entrance to the theater. From here we had a short walk over to the Goodwill Trail, our next stop on the adventure.
Ridgefield Recreation
Center
Date visited: 4/5/2021
This is a typical town recreation area, with playgrounds, sports fields and a paved walking trail. The loop around the center was about a mile long. I think it is called the Ippoliti Trail.
Ridgefield Recreation Center
Date visited: 4/18/2026
The eastern three quarters of Connecticut were covered in clouds, but the sun was bright and warm along the western edge of the state, so that's where we headed. I had driven through the area the day before and noticed how nice everything looked now that the trees were in bloom, so I thought this would be a good starting point for our adventure. We had been here in April five years prior, but it was earlier in the month and things weren't bloomed yet, so it looked completely different. Since our last visit, there is now some sculptures displayed along the walking trail, as well as a 9/11 monument that includes a beam from the World Trade Center. I tried to take different photos than last time, but we still took a photo by the little house. This time, we got photobombed by another dog! We actually only walked the smaller loop this go around, since there was a lot more we wanted to in town this trip. We headed to the newer trail along Ligi's Way next.
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Bennett's Pond State Park
Date visited: 4/15/2022
This is more of a challenging trail than we usually tackle, but the weather was so nice, I decided to go for it. The half mile loop trail was a fun hike. Some of the loop followed the multi-town Ives Trail. Part of our route dipped into Danbury, so pictures from that section are on that page. I did wind up carrying the dogs for about a quarter of a mile because the trail became a mud puddle at one point, but all in all, this was a really enjoyable hike.
Ridgefield Rail Trail
Date visited: 11/4/2023
This stone dust surfaced trail follows an old abandoned railway, as well as the Eversource right-of-way. The entire approximately 2.5 mile trail runs underneath the power lines. There are actually two cell towers, with equipment right off the trail. There's not even a fence. There's only parking on the west side of the trail, off of Halpin Lane near the Ridgefield Theater Barn. Heading east from there is down hill all the way, meaning it's up hill coming back. It's not steep, it's a gradual incline, but you will feel it in your legs. The views probably looked better a couple of weeks ago when the fall foliage was at it's peak. It was pretty "blah" on a cool gray Saturday afternoon. There are poop bag dispensers and disposal containers at each road crossing, which is a nice touch for the dog walkers. There are a few different nature preserves which can be accessed from the trail as well, if you want to expand your walk. We didn't, as we walked the whole rail trail out and back, and five miles was enough. It's an okay rail trail, but certainly not one of the best in the state.
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Copps Hill
Date visited: 4/18/2026
I've called this "Copps Hill" because of two shopping plazas named "Copps Hill Plaza" and "The Marketplace at Copps Hill". We walked through here as part of our Ridgefield adventure, and took a few photos at some of the interesting areas. We cut through the plazas after our short hike on the Goodwill Trail on our way back to the Recreation Center where we parked. There are also a couple photos taken along Grove Street on our way to Ridgefield Playhouse earlier in the day, which includes a nice photo from in front of the town's historical society building. The spring blooms made for some nice scenery in this busy commercial district. This was a fun spring adventure, and with all the stops through town we walked just shy of five miles.
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Ligi's Way
Date visited: 4/18/2026
This is a new elevated boardwalk along side Ligi's Way that passes over the side of the "Great Swamp". The path connects Farmingville Road to South Street. We started at the Farmingville Road end after walking over from the Recreation Center. There is an observation platform toward the middle of the route, and the walkway ends near the town's animal shelter. From there, we walked along some streets over to Ridgefield Playhouse to continue our adventure.
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Goodwill Trail
Date visited: 4/18/2026
This is a Ridgefield Open Space trail that runs from Prospect Woods to Ligi's Way. We walked over to the Prospect Woods trail head from Ridgefield Playhouse, and used the trail as a segment of our loop around parts of Ridgefield. The short trail runs through the woods and features a number of foot bridges over small streams. The trail is well marked with yellow blazes and is an easy walk. It was nice seeing a lot of green on a woods walk, as things are starting to bloom now. The trail is called "Goodwill Trail" because it ends near the Goodwill drop-off point. Instead of utilizing the Ligi's Way boardwalk to get back to our starting point, we walked through the Copps Hill shopping district next.
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