People's State Forest
A beautiful state park in Connecticut, People's State Forest, is only a 90 minute to 30 minute drive, depending on where you are in Fairfield County. This park has hiking, camping and fishing to name a few of the activities. We went for a hike on Saturday, in gorgeous weather, and we felt like we almost had the place to ourselves. There were a few fly fishers in the river (Farmington River) but not many hikers to be seen.
This is the Jessie Gerard Trail we took. The blaze for this trail is blue/yellow.
The trail goes through the Barkhamsted Lighthouse Village. The area is a archaeological preserve and a very interesting read. This area can be reached right off the parking lot, so you don't need to do the hike in order to investigate the old village.
The hike is only a 650 foot climb. However, the beginning of the hike is more reminiscent of a hike in New Hampshire than in Connecticut. It is very rocky and somewhat difficult. However, the climb is done all at once and the summit is reached very quickly.
Great views from the summit.
There is a parking lot not far from this area (a small hike) that means you do not have to do the climb. So, careful when you climb down the viewing rocks on the summit. Unfortunately there were broken beer bottles.
Past the summit the trail continues and you do cross a road with a small parking lot. The road is pretty much empty. Next to this area was a small picnic area. This hike is a little hard for lunch. Reaching the summit is done rather quickly and then this picnic area, not far after the summit, is the only place to really sit down for lunch. After the hike there are picnic tables down by the Farmington River.
Continuing on our hike.
This large pond (once again, picture does not do it justice) has solely been created by beavers.
After the summit the walk is mostly through some beautiful woods but it is a down and up walk but nothing major in terms of elevation gain.
Our dog lost her off leash privileges after chasing a Black Bear which was right off the trail. So please be aware that there are bears in the area. However, the bear did take off and was very scared. So, I don't think they want to interact with people.
After we hiked, we stopped at the river (a very large parking lot) and the kids fished for a while with no luck. Please see the park's website for information about fishing as it is catch and release only and only certain hooks are allowed.
I don't have pictures but after the hike we went to the town of Riverton, which is pretty much right after you exit the park, and had drinks and ice cream in the beer garden of the Riverton General Store. This place had groceries, a deli, a grill and a little ice cream bar. Very cute and worth a look.
http://rivertonct.com/Merchants/RivertonGeneralStore.aspx
There are so many great parks and hikes in the area. One of my favorite books for hikes in Connecticut is:
AMC's Best Day Hikes in Connecticut. To buy off Amazon go to:
https://www.amazon.com/AMCs-Best-Day-Hikes-Connecticut/dp/1934028770/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1473004150&sr=8-2&keywords=best+day+hikes+in+ct
