Windsor Locks

Spring Park

Date visited: 10/12/2021

This time of the year is tough. It gets dark so soon, there is not much time to go on these adventures after work. I have to pick places that are within a half hour drive if I want to have any chance of getting in a decent adventure with the pups. I basically just look at maps online for nearby parks that we haven't been to yet. I came up with this one. I really had no idea what to expect. The park is accessed off Spring Street (hence the name), down a hill on a very narrow driveway. The park section is really nice. The playground is probably the main attraction, but there is a pond, a half basketball court, and a covered picnic area as well. The grounds are well maintained. To my pleasant surprise, there are a series of trails in the back of the park. I didn't have any map to these trails so I just started to explore. The main trail is nice enough, but leads to the back of an auto garage on Spring Street. There are some side trails off the main trail, but unfortunately these have not been as well maintained as the park. They are a bit overgrown, and in one instance, the wooden bridge over a stream had deteriorated. Despite that, it was still a good place to get a nice walk in after work. The fall foliage made for some nice phots.

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Waterworks Brook Trail

Date visited: 5/16/2021

Also known as the Michael F. Gragnolati Conservation Trail, the Waterworks Brook Trail runs through the southern part of Windsor Locks on Connecticut Water Company Land. This is a little known trail. It starts out wide, then gets narrow, then widens again, then gets narrow and looks like it will loop around, but it doesn't. After one and a half miles it ends at a field near the Rt. 20 interchange with Old Country Road. I met some locals who knew the trail well, and asked if any of the side trails loop around, and I guess they don't. There is no good map of the trail. There's one on the kiosk at the trail head, but it is not drawn to scale and wasn't that helpful. This is a nice walk in the woods, especially the section with a lot of baby pine trees that is really nice.

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Windsor Locks Canal Trail

Date visited: 9/4/2020

The Windsor Locks Canal Trail is a multi-use paved trail that travels along the west side of the Connecticut River, beginning at the Rt 140 bridge and ending in Suffield at the Rt 190 bridge. The trail is closed in the winter, and bald eagles have been known to habitat around the trail. The Windsor Locks section isn't all that interesting. The picture below is actually from the picnic area near the parking lot. The second is in front of the canal that had a layer of green sludge on top of the water. The trail gets more interesting in Suffield.

Veteran's Memorial Park

Date visited: 12/21/2022

I've said it before, but I think every town has a park called "Veteran's Memorial Park." This one is a typical town park with athletic fields, as well as a monument for the veterans in the center of the park. There is also a make shift skating rink, but it wasn't quite frozen the day we visited. There is a paved walking trail along the north side of the park. It looks like it is primarily used as a neighborhood shortcut, providing access from the high school to the park. We walked the circumfrence of the park, along with Southwest Family Park, which is just across the street. The entire route was about two miles total.

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Southwest Family Park

Date visited: 12/21/2022

This is a very small park located right across the street from Veteran's Memorial Park. This park is primarily for the kiddos, as it features an elaborate playground, along with one ballfield.

Noden-Reed Park

Date visited: 1/11/2023

We stopped here for a quick walk during my lunch break from work. This is a small park, known for being the site of the first decorated Christmas Tree in New England! That seems like a big deal, but I had never heard of it before I read the sign. The site of the supposed first ever decorated Christmas Tree is in the back of the park. The tree there now is obviously not the same tree from 1777. The Girl Scouts planted a new one on the site in 2008. Ten years later, a boy scout planted additional, different kinds of "Christmas Trees", mostly around the front of the park. Aside from the Christmas Trees, this park features a gravel path that leads out to a back entrance, and a very short trail in the woods that loops around to Barbara Drive. The rest of it seems to be mostly open, grassy areas, with a few historical looking buildings near the parking lot. There are some picnic tables, and it looks like a nice spot to just sit and eat your lunch.

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Pesci Park

Date visited: 3/10/2023

This is a small park that features athletic fields, a pool and a playground. It's not really big enough for a real good walk. We extended our walk by exploring the neighborhood. One picture below is from a farm market down the road from the park.