Beautiful park to walk or hike in. They have an amazing history trail that uses braille. Historic…read morelands! Also has a beautiful waterfalls running through it.

Had fun taking the brisk day to walk with my daughter down the walking path at Valley Falls. I…read morealways get neat pictures and great exercise.

Stunning park! I've always heard such great things about this area and it was nice to finally check…read moreit out for myself. I went for a picnic and sat for a bit in the grass near Lot E. I would say this was the most peaceful part of the park as it seemed most people didn't really come out that far or if they did it was just to turn around. After we took a nice stroll through the Irish, English, and Oriental gardens. My favorite parts had to be the tree maze and hydrangea garden. I also got the chance to touch lamb ears for the first time... What an interesting experience! Can't wait to return to this park to explore more of the gardens and finally see the view of Hartford that everyone is always talking about.

I thought this would be a great place for a date, and it is beautiful, however some areas are not…read morevery well kept. The museum/nature center was very dirty, dead bugs in most of the exhibits. The gardens were beautiful, however three of the main ones I wanted to see were reserved on the day we went. I wish it was advertised somewhere which gardens are available on which day, I assume they get reserved weeks or months in advance, so it was disappointing when we assumed they were open to the public right up until we almost walked in on someone's party. Some of the other areas are very worn and need work. In addition the birds are kept is very small cages, and it broke my heart :/

The Pinchot Sycamore Park is located below the Route 185 Bridge and along the Farmington River. The…read morepark is home to the oldest tree of its kind in CT. The park also includes a small launch on the Farmington River for canoes, kayaks, and small boats. This so-called launch is nothing more than a narrow path with large rocks sticking out of the ground, going down a hill to the river that is also very rocky. The tree is definitely worth checking out.

Tree Huggers Unite!…read more The Pinchot Sycamore Tree is located in a small park in Simsbury. The entrance to the park is very steep and in front of the traffic light, right next to the bridge. There's a small dirt parking lot and the Farmington River is adjacent to the park. There is another large tree with big rocks surrounding it. I saw a couple of trails going down to the river; a place to offload kayaks and canoes. The time I went, I saw a group of people standing/swimming in the water. Right next to the bridge, you will see the massive American Sycamore tree; the largest tree in Connecticut. The 200-300 year old tree is very beautiful and majestic. There were two stone markers in front of the tree; the tree was dedicated to conservationist, Gifford Pinchot. The tree is lit up with lights at night. Overall, a lovely place to be and reminisce about what the tree has seen throughout the years.

This park should be a hidden gem in Manchester. If it hadn't been riddled with trash I might have…read morecalled it as such. Manchester should do better with it's parks. Taxes are certainly high enough.

"Leave your cares behind come with us and find The pleasures…read moreof a journey to the center of the mind" (Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes) Center Springs Park is a serene and beautiful park smack in the center of Manchester. During our stroll around the park, we found a nicely maintained walking path cutting through the greenery and up to the park's free Disc Golf course. Just show up and shoot a round, as long as you bring along your own discs. The centerpiece of the park is a six-acre pond with three water fountains shooting streams of water high into the air. There were two long boardwalk bridges over the lake which gave us some nice views of fish and ducks hanging out in the lake. Throw in a playground, a gazebo/pavilion, picnic space, and some public art sculptures, and you have everything you need to spend some relaxing time in a pretty location.

A beautiful park which has a playground for kids, trail by the water, also good to host parties…read moreduring spring/summer/fall, perfect outdoor venue, this park has a field for practice and is of a good size. Overall a great place to have fun for all age groups. Located close by the highway. This is one of my son's favorite parks in Manchester.

Great park with lots of space for kids to run around and climb. Picnic tables for snacks or to get…read moreout of the sun. There is a free library with books for kids to drop off/pick up books. They have bathrooms there, but they are not always open, so that can be frustrating if you expect it to be available and it's not. Grounds are usually clean and well cared for.

"Same hurt in every heart Same trailer, different park"…read more(Kacey Musgraves) Charter Oak Park was unexpectedly one of the biggest and best parks we've seen in Connecticut. When you pull into the parking lot the park doesn't look that big, but as we walked around we were so surprised to see it keeps going and going on and on like a peaceful Energizer Bunny. We saw a playground, a dog park, basketball courts, murals, the East Coast Greenway walking/biking path, a waterfall, and a bridge to name just a few. The Greenway was beautiful, very flat, very wide with lots of pretty scenery and water views. If you want a low impact place to walk, its perfect. We saw a second path up to the Dog Park, but that was on a rather steep incline, so we passed on it. But the two very coolest things we saw were a student decorated fence and a Rotary Musical Garden. The fence project involved a five foot high vinyl chain link fence collaboration between the Cheney Tech Carpentry Program, Country Carpenters of Hebron, and Home Depot. Students had painted squares of wood to represent their interests, so we saw hockey, music, nature and books among the hundreds of miniature works of art. The squares were mechanically attached through the fence into a second square on the other side of the fence, essentially locking them into place, The musical Garden has multiple big xylophones in all kinds of shapes and sizes and big colorful bongo drums. You can have a blast making cool noises as you engage with each of the music stations. Truth be told, Charter Oak Park was fantastic.

Charter Oak Park is definitely a diamond in the rough. Though it's not located in the most…read morebeautiful neighborhood, it's new and has so much to do! The park has a playground with 2 main play structures (one for 2-5 year olds, one for 5-12 year olds), baby and regular swings, a music garden, 4 basketball courts, 2 tennis courts, 3 baseball fields, a great paved walking path, several picnic tables, real restrooms, and a big empty field. I visited on a Wednesday morning with my toddler and we had a blast! We spend most of our time on the playground and in the music garden. The play structure for younger kids is on the small side but still has some fun features. It has a rock they can climb up, ladders, some fake stumps, and 2 slides (including a side-by-side). There's also a cool thing about 4 kids can sit in while it is being spun by an adult or another child from outside. My almost 2 year old navigated this whole structure with ease. The second play structure for older kids was very fun. It had a lot of different obstacles to climb including rock walls, different nets and webs, ladders, a balance beam... the list goes on. It also had a very cool swing that was almost like a zip line with a seat to sit on. The two play structures are not divided by anything, so my toddler moved back and forth between the two. He could navigate some of it by himself but I definitely had to stay close by or climb with him. There are many places for a smaller child to fall from and climbing obstacles that were just too big. However, this playground would definitely have more for a 12 year old to do than many I have seen for this same age. Finally, we visited the music garden. It was beautiful, even with the cooler weather setting in. The landscaping and shrubbery was well done and kept and all the instruments were still in great shape.

We come to the playground here and love it. My son calls it the "airplane playground" because of…read morethe airplane play structure. There's plenty to climb on, swing on, slide on, and sand to dig in.

Separate areas for kids of all ages... Playscape's for all ages too.... There is also an enormous…read moresandbox... The ground is covered with padded surface material and mulch in some places. There is one playscape that looks like an aerospace....with a Pratt& Whitney logo...really kool. Tennis courts, basket ball courts, soccer field... Picnic tables and most importantly clean restrooms. Huge parking lot and more parking by the soccer field as well.

What a great hiking adventure! There various trails to choose from, but all of the terrine tends to…read morebe flat. There are stairs in some locations, but I've found them to be near the waterfall and throughout various place in the trail There is a waterfall basin in the beginning of the trail in the parking lot. Various bridges and beautiful scenery. There are benches along the trails for a quick break or to watch nature and the wildlife.

Enjoyed an amazing hike here! Plenty to see! There is a bunch of different trails you can pick…read morefrom. Beautiful views of waterfalls. So much to see and do here definitely check this spot out!

"Exit light, enter night Take my hand…read moreWe're off to never-never land" (Metallica) What do you look for in a town park? Well, maybe your design plan would include plenty of open green spaces, baseball, soccer and lacrosse fields, basketball courts, maybe a few walking trails, picnic areas, playgrounds, a Fitness Station, a skatepark, two ice cream trucks, an all-inclusive boundless playground, and a gazebo for groups and barbecuing. And you'd probably want an easy to find location with a few different entrances and parking lots, right? Well, if you're looking for such a town park in South Windsor, CT, look no further than Nevers Park, because it has all of the above plus more. Today was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and there was plenty of activity going on at Nevers today. The playgrounds and splash pad were packed, there was a big group at the gazebo barbecuing lunch, we saw plenty of well-behaved dogs on their leashes, and we saw one cute little guy shooting baskets on a Munchkin-sized hoop that must have been four feet off the ground. We walked a leisurely loop around the property on their wide flat paved trails which took us to their ball fields, playground, splash pad, skate park and fields. What a wonderful park!

This is far and away the best playground and splash pad combination in the Greater Hartford area…read more The playground offers different options for younger and older kids, with some new additions mixed in with some older playground gear. There is a cool basketball shooting area with poops of different heights. The splash pad is really the selling point during the summer. It's clean, offers seating with Adirondack chairs in the shade and sun, and a variety of different water play activities. We love having play dates here and there's always a lot to do. We haven't ventured over to the field area or the skate park, but I'm sure those are fun as well.

I like this park. What I like about this park is that the geese like to hang out at Union Pond…read more That is cool except for water levels which are lower than I thought but though it's still a great place to relax, wind yourself and either read a book or watch the geese. Also a good place to go out for a walk as well.

This was a great trail though we didn't finish it due to time constraints It was well marked,…read morefollowed the pond shoreline and was relatively easy with a few inclines. Beautiful spots along the way to enjoy the water views. Also found two geocaches off the trail which were awesome. Parking for 4-5 cars but another lot right across the street. There is also a fairly new fitness trail over the footbridge. Not my thing but thought it looked awesome