Dates visited: 3/7/2021, 5/31/2021 & 6/27/2021

This is a nice hiking spot on the shore, with a couple of loop trails that go in and out of the woods, and some paths that lead through the marshy areas. The best part of the place, was this little side trail we found that led to a small beach. There was nobody else using it. The dogs had this whole little mini-beach to themselves!

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We came back when our friend Cookie stayed over for a week. Since it was on Memorial Day, all of the other area beaches are "in-season," which means dogs are not allowed. We were able to bring Cookie to this mini-beach so she could experience the ocean for the first time.

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Date visited: 5/31/2021

Most people don't realize that Mystic is actually part of Stonington, and not it's own town. Stopped for some quick pictures here with Cookie after our Barn Island visit. It was late in the day, with the sun setting. It was Memorial Day and the place was closed so we couldn't get down to the area where the ships are docked.

Date visited: 6/8/2021

It's not hard to imagine how Stonington got it's name after hiking this trail. There are stones everyone, and they are pretty cool! We came down here after work on a very hot, muggy and stormy day in the Hartford Area. It was about 15 degrees cooler here, and not raining. This was a pleasant walk through a rooty and rocky trail. We hiked out to the "pond" that eventually empties out into Stonington Harbor, and then completed the two mile loop through the rocky terrain. It wasn't a difficult hike, but the surface certainly had some obstacles to overcome. There are signs posted throughout to keep you on the Avalonia property, as the parcel is adjacent to some US Government Land, (looks to be a Navy Recreation Area) and some other Private Property that the All-Trails app wanted me to tresspass through (we didn't).

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Date visited: 12/19/2021

Stonington Borough is the town center for the town of Stonington. We visited for the Lobster Trap Tree. That's a tree made up completely of Lobster traps. It lights up at night time, but we visited during the day and didn't see the lights. There were a good deal of people taking pictures in front of the tree. We also walked down one of the docks, where the lobster boats are docked.

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Date visited: 7/6/2021

This was a small nature center. The trail was about a half of mile. This is a pretty basic walk in the woods. The highlight was the rock in the picture below. Lexi decided to climb it on her own. I'm not sure how she managed to balance there while I took the photo.

Date visited: 6/27/2021

We took another trip down to Stonington to beat the heat. It's always much cooler down here than the rest of the state. This place is in the Mystic section of Stonington. The trail-head is across the street from the aquarium. There are a series of trails here, the main one we hiked is called the "Stone Bridges Trail," despite there not being any stone bridges on the trail. I think we also did a section of the Denison Farm Trail. This connected to the Nature Center, but we didn't walk the trails over there because they said "No Dogs." As you can see from the pictures below, the sections of the trails we did walk had a variety of different landscapes.

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Date visited: 7/14/2021

This is a nice, very short hike via a well maintained trail that has access to a little inlet. We've been going to Stonington often because it's always 10-15 degrees cooler down here than the Hartford area. There are many of these small nature preserves here, and this is one of the better ones. I only wish there was more access to the water. The train tracks cut off mosgt of the waterfront access.

Date visited: 7/14/2021

This is yet another small Avalonia Land Conservsancy property in Stonington. This one goes up a small hill in a somewhat rocky area, before ending with a loop.

Date visited: 12/19/2021

The main thing here is rocks. Lots of rocks. Rock walls and piles of rocks. We hiked two loops, the far loop actually leaves Avalonia Land Conservancy land and ventures into North Stonington. Another unusal thing here is the small graveyard in the middle of the trail. Evidently, Prentice Brown and his wife Lucy, who both died in 1811, are buried here.

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Date visited: 5/22/2022

This is a pretty nice town park. The park is located behind Stonington High School. We hiked a loop trail that consisted of park roads as well as traditional trails. It might not be the nicest place we've visited in Stonington, but it was an enjoyable walk none the less. I like the monument to the September 11th K-9 Relief fund.

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Dates visited: 11/10/2022, 9/10/2023 & 2/19/2024

This is a very popular shopping area located in the Mystic section of Stonington. There are a lot of great photo opportunities here. We arrived at sunset, and it was hard to get great shots with the dim lighting. The upside to arriving so late was that the amount of damage the wife could do at the shops was limited! Be aware that most of the shops here do not allow dogs, but a few of them do. I didn't go into any of the shops myself, so please don't consider any pictures of a specific store as an endorsement of the store. I was just looking to get some cute photos of the pups.

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Our second visit wasn't a planned stop. We were headed elsewhere but I actually stopped to use the bathroom (too much Ice Coffee)! Of course it was much busier than usual since an event was happening. It was the Taste of Mystic. It was also a rare Connecticut appearance for a Del's Frozen Lemonade truck. I was going to get one, but they only had mini and small sizes, and you needed to wait in a long line for food tickets. The small was five tickets (which was $5), which is the usual price of a large, so I skipped it. We walked around a bit and I thought about walking around more, but it was very hot and there was a lot of people. It was a good thing we left when we did, because thunderstorms came through shortly after we departed!

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Our third visit here was for the ice sculpture display. There were a total of 22 ice sculptures, situated around the "village". We didn't take pictures with all of them. This was the third and final day of the display, and the ones that were left in the bright sun had started to melt, and in some cases were unrecognizable. Most sculptures related to the store they were placed next to. My favorite one was the eagle inside the gazebo. Even without the sculptures, this is a good place to visit in the winter time. It's still very colorful, especially on a sunny day. Also, you can be sure the walkways will be cleared after it snows. It's a popular place to walk your dogs. We met a family of three Shih Tzus. They could have been Mandy's cousins!

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Date visited: 4/12/2024

This is the historic section of Stonington right on the border of Westerly, Rhode Island. We actually parked on the street here, just before the bridge over the Pawcatuck River leading to Rhode Island. We took a few pictures on the Connecticut side on our way to Wilcox Park.

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Date visited: 6/3/2024

Stonington Point is actually the small peninsula, just past DuBois Beach at the end of Water Street. I've included some of the surrounding area in the pictures below. We parked at the public lot at Wayland's Wharf, which itself is a nice little park. We didn't take too many photos here, because the teenagers had pretty much taken the park over! We headed down Water Street, past Cannon Square (the location of the historic cannon), the Stonington Lighthouse Museum, and DuBois Beach, until finally reaching the point at the end of the road. There's a parking area at the end of the street (shared with the beach). There are rocks and benches with good views of the surrounding ocean and islands. From this point, you can see Rhode Island to your left, and Fishers Island (part of New York) to the right. There's probably not that many places where you can see Rhode Island and New York at the same time, while standing in Connecticut! There is also a small grassy picnic area with benches. DuBois Beach, also located here, is a very small private beach. Dogs are not allowed at this beach at all. After visiting the point, we headed up the east side of the peninsula, to Dodge Paddock/Beal Peserve, where the dogs were finally able to get into the water. This was a very nice walk, on a gorgeous evening. It's just too bad there isn't more places for the dogs to enjoy the water.

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Date visited: 6/3/2024

This is a very small Avalonia Nature Conservancy preserve, located very near Stonington Point. The whole area is a little over 3 acres. There are some really short trails. The one that leads out to the rocks is nice, the other is really overgrown. There are some nice views from the rocks, and it's a great place for dogs to cool off, since they aren't allowed on nearby DuBois Beach.

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Date visited: 7/10/2024

This was a short hike, about three quarters of a mile, along a slightly overgrown loop trail in the woods. It was damp, dreary, and muggy, but about 15 degrees cooler here in Stonington, than it was near home. Other than numerous stone walls (this is Stonington after all!), this was a pretty boring hike.

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Date visited: 8/5/2024

This is a small park area along the east side of the Mystic River. This adventure was combined with the Mystic River Historic District on the west side of the river, along with the bastille bridge that connects the two sections.

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