Southington

◂︎ Mandy & Lexi's Connecticut Adventures

Southington

Crescent Lake

Date visited: 1/1/2021

New Years Day is traditionally a hiking day! In non-COVID years, there's usually all sorts of guided hikes in Connecticut. For some reason, I made the absolutely awful choice of doing the loop around Crescent Lake in Southington. The trail was a muddy mess. I would hit a muddy spot, and think that's not so bad...not realizing it was just the beginning. Anyway, I get half way through and it just gets worse and worse. At that point, there's no sense in turning around, so I finished the loop. I didn't get the year off on the right foot, that's for sure, as both dogs had muddy paws!

Farmington Canal Heritage Trail

Dates visited: 9/4/2021, 9/6/2021, 9/8/2021 & 10/2/2024

It takes multiple days to get through the Southington section of the trail, since we always have to walk out and back. Click below to expand the section and read about the trips.

Farmington Canal Heritage Trail in Southington

Earlier in the year, we finished the northern section of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail (from Plainville to Westfield, MA). Now it's time to work on the southern section. We started at the trail head on Lazy Road, which is the northern end of the southern section. We walked two miles to the Quinnipiac River crossing, and turned around and walked back for four miles in total. The beginning of the trail wasn't that exciting, but it got very interesting toward the center of Southington, with the artwork on the sides of the buildings that surround the trail.

We came back two days later to do the next portion in Southington. We started in the Plantsville section of town, and went north until we hit the spot we turned around the first time. We then headed south to the Milldale section of town, going as far as the Milldale Train Depot Museum, before heading back to the car. It was Labor Day, and a gorgeous day when we were there, and the trail was very busy.

Two days later, we came back and walked the last quarter mile in Southington, then continued to the Cheshire section of the trail.

This is a brand new section of the trail. It just opened in August of 2024, about two years after we finished the rest of the trail in Southington. This section of trail is 1.7 miles long, and runs north from Lazy Lane to Aircraft Road. Construction is expected to begin in 2025 on the next section that will close the gap in Plainville. The trails runs parallel to Queen Street, behind the businesses on the west side of the street. This section is almost perfectly flat. Beyond Aircraft Road, the train tracks are still present, so no work has started yet on the next part. Along with the extension currently being built in New Haven that will reach Long Wharf, it's nice to see progress being made in completing the trail in Connecticut. Maybe it will actually be complete in Mandy and Lexi's lifetime. We will continue to visit new sections of this trail as they open.

Panthorn Park

Date visited: 10/2/2024

This is a town park with a variety of athletic fields, picnic areas, and playgrounds. There's a small pond, and a series of short trails through the woods. One of the trails has a long boardwalk through a swampy area. We hiked the trails and walked around the park, covering about a mile and a half total.