Date visited: 8/24/2021

We haven't been going on as many as adventures as normal lately, mostly due to a muscle injury I sustained recently. But the weather was nice, so I managed to get out, and I'm glad I did! This park is very nice, with a couple of ponds, athletic fields, a playground, a communuty farm, a paved walking trail, and a series of conventional trails. We walked the paved trail, and some of the hiking trails, about a mile and a half in total. I forgot the treats, so I really had to be patient with the dogs posing today! I had to promise them nuggies (chicken nuggets for those who don't speak "spoiled dog" language). I am a man of my word, and I stopped and got them nuggies on the way home.

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Date visited: 9/21/2020

It gets harder to fit in hikes after work in late September. It gets dark too early. This was a nice "out and back" type trail, that I remember rushing through the "back" part of it, so I can get to the side trail that leads to the lake during sunset. I did get there, but had just minutes to get a picture of the dogs in front of the lake with the sunset. I also have an unwritten rule about these pages that I am going to break...which is that the dogs have to be in every picture. The 4th picture below is of the beautiful creature that was stalking us while we stopped for water.

Date visited: 3/22/2021

Tolland has a bunch of these conservation areas. These are usually quick hits...maybe two miles or so. This was a good one we did after work in March.

Date visited: 12/23/2021

This is one of many conservation areas in Tolland. This one is on the site of the old Stoppleworth Farm. There is a connecting trail to Campbell Conservation Area, but we just walked the one mile loop trail. The trail is nicely maintained. There are a number of stream crossings, but all have bridges that keep you out of the water. The trail was a perfect length for the time allotment that was available, as we didn't start until after 3 and it gets dark very early this time of year.

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Date visited: 6/14/2020

This is yet another one of those conservation areas in Tolland. I'm writing this about 10 months after my visit to Shafran Conservation Area. I really don't remember anything about this trail other than what I can see in the few pictures I took that day. There appeared to be a lot of trees!

Date visited: 3/22/2023

This is a small park on the extreme eastern side of town. There is a very nice half mile trail that runs along side the Willimantic River. It's short but sweet. The rest of the park consists of a parking area, a basketball court, and a soccer field. There is also a grassy area in the front of the park, with some cool stones. We extended our walk by walking around this area in addition to the trail.

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Date visited: 5/9/2021

The King Riverside Conservation Area is located in the southeast corner of Tolland, right at the point where Tolland, Mansfield, Coventry and Willington all converge. There is a main trail that hugs the Willimantic River that makes up the King Riverside Conservation Area, and a loop trail that connects to it, that is part of the Nedwied Conservation Area. The trail itself seems to be part of a larger Willimantic River Hiking Trail. This was a pretty nice section of trail, with nice views of the river. The King Riverside section is flat and straight, while the Nedwied loop had a small climb. The back half of the loop borders people's backyards. One of the backyards was home to a pack of alpacas! I did not expect to see alpacas on this hike...I actually don't expect to see alpacas on any hike! They were quite curious too! I love surprises like these on our adventures!

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Date visited: 8/9/2020

We had trouble finding trails after Tropical Storm Isais came through in early August that weren't damaged. A friend from the dog park suggested this one, and sure enough, it was completely passable. It was a very hot day if I remember correctly. Luckily the trail was short and there was plenty of shade so we didn't over exert ourselves.

Date visited: 1/3/2022

This is a town park, with athletic fields and playgrounds. There is also a short one mile hiking trail. The trail started out real nice, but it wasn't marked well and was hard to follow. It pretty must just disappeared about two thirds through the loop. We would up just forging through the woods until we hit the grassy area near the athletic fields. I was following the All-Trails map, and according to the map, I should have been right on the trail, but there really wasn't much of a trail left. Before the trail disappeared, there was a nice section lined with pine trees, that someone decorated with Christmas Bulbs.

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Date visited: 3/2/2022

Tolland is full of these conservation areas! These are great "after work" trails. They are short and within a half hour drive. We followed the "Old Cook Road to Orange Trail" route using the All-Trails app. The route was a little over a mile. We veered off the route slightly to check out the art on the stone wall. According to the sign, the stone wall was part of a peat harvesting operation in the early 20th century. The artwork was done by the Tolland Art Society.

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Date visited: 3/16/2022

This is a very well maintained and well marked Joshua's Land Trust property. The highlight was the tall rock wall on the far side of the loop. There are connecting trails to the Weigold Preserve, but we stuck to the mile and a half Tobiassen Forest Loop. There are some hills, but all in all, it's a pretty easy hike. This trail isn't all that special, but it was nice way to spend an hour after work on a beautiful evening.

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Date visited: 4/12/2022

This was actually the first of the many Tolland Conservation Areas that we hiked, back in 2019 pre-COVID. Those were the days! Anyway, I needed to find something nearby, and decided to revisit this one. We hiked the two mile loop trail around the property, which includes the short trail out to the "scenic rock." Speaking of rocks, plenty of them here! This was a fun hike with some ups and downs and rocky terrain, on a beautiful spring day. It was worth the revisit.

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Date visited: 4/18/2022

This is yet another Conservation Area in Tolland. This one can be found behind River Park, near the Willington border. The park itself is just a couple of little league fields. The Conservation Area is situated behind the fields. The trail consists of a mile loop through a pine forest. It probably looks wonderful in the winter, and on a bright summer day. But this was a chilly and dreary and evening, probably the worst time to visit. One side of the loop runs alongside the Willimantic River, and actually gets down to the river shore briefly, before heading back up. It's a pretty nice trail for a quick hike after work.

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Date visited: 5/17/2022

This is a short but sweet Joshua's Land Trust property. The trail here is a figure 8 loop. The yellow blazed "CT Path" forms the main trunk line, and the more narrow red and blue blazed trails form the loops. There's nothing very unique or interesting about this property, but it is a pleasant walk in the woods none the less.

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Date visited: 6/7/2022

We hiked a very short trail here that runs from the park road to the Willimantic River. The trail passes through the woods and narrows as it gets closer to the river. Mountain Laurels surround the trail in places, but the trail was quite overgrown as well. The whole trip out and back was less than a mile. There's really not much here to see.

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Date visited: 9/13/2022

This is yet another conservation area in Tolland. This one has a wide trail that goes out to a loop that narrows a bit. The far side of the loop had one muddy section I carried the dogs over, but other than that it was an easy hike. It just wasn't that interesting. The gloomy and damp day didn't help for sure. The "End Of Trail" sign was just bizarre, because it is nowhere near the end of the trail.

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