Windham

Eastern Connecticut State University

Date visited: 12/23/2020

I had a hard time finding places to take the dogs after the first big snow of the season. A friend suggested this particular college campus. It actually worked out very well. With COVID and the Christmas Break, the place was a ghost town! But the sidewalks still all had to be cleared, so it was a perfect place to walk around with the dogs.

Flood Control Levee Trail

Date visited: 1/19/2021

This is the flood control levee on the other side of Mansfield Hollow. It straddles Windham airport, and we stopped to watch the planes take-off and land.

Hop River Trail

Date visited: 8/21/2020

This is the end of the Hop River Trail, at an intersection with the Air-Line Trail. We had walked the entire distance of the Hop River Trail (not all at once!), so I had a sense of accomplishment when we reached that point. The trail starts in Manchester and goes through Vernon, Bolton, Coventry, Andover and Columbia before ending in Windham. We picked up the Air Line Trail at this point, a little over a year later.

Air Line Trail

Dates visited: 8/21/2020, 9/23/2021, 12/13/2021, 12/26/2021 & 12/27/2021

This is the end of the Hop River Trail, at an intersection with the Air-Line Trail. We were here the day we completed the Hop River Trail. We came back a little over a year later and walked the portion of the Air Line trail that runs from Kingsley Road in Lebanon to Bridge Street in the downtown Willimantic section of Windham. There's a small gap at Bridge Street where the trail is routed on roads until it picks up again near the Frog Bridge. This entire section is paved, and there wasn't another soul on the trail, but there were people and dogs camped out in a tent near the Bridge Street parking lot. I believe they live there. We made another trip here in December, where we walked from North Windham Road to the Veteran's Memorial Greenway section. This section was adorned in pine trees. Later in December, we returned and walked the Veteran's Memorial Greenway section. It ends near the Frog Bridge. I tried to get a picture of the dogs in front of the bridge, but the sun was in the wrong place. I could only get one of the frogs visible in the photo. The next day, we finished the Windham portion of the trail, walking the section from Beaver Hill Road to Chewink Road in Chaplin.

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Recreation Park

Date visited: 4/28/2023

We actually stopped here to watch a friend's softball game. They won the game like 23-6, or something crazy like that. Mandy and Lexi obviously brought good luck to the team. The park itself isn't bad, mostly athletic fields. There is a playground, and a dog park as well. In addition to watching the game, we did circle the very busy park. The one downside is the sewer treatment facility just next door. It causes some unpleasant odors...but if you wait long enough into the evening, the smell of pot will overtake the sewage smell.

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Philip Lauter Park

Date visited: 9/9/2024

This is a town park located in the Willimantic section of Windham, near the Mansfield border. There's a beach area for swimming in the Natchaug River, but dogs are not allowed. There are some other places in the park where it is possible to get them into the water if needed. It wasn't warm enough on this day for that. There's a couple different community gardens, and a skate park as well. Nothing really specifically for the dogs, but enough area to go for a short walk. We also crossed Jackson Street (Route 195), and checked out Alex Caisse Park.