"If I were a painter And could paint a memory…read moreI'd climb inside the swirling skies to be with you" (Norah Jones) The East Granby Farms Town facility has quite a lot of features - the  Kilbon Recreation Center for community classes, its home for the town's Historical Center, it boasts a baseball field and basketball court, picnic facilities, and some gorgeous scenery for your hiking enjoyment. But none of those are the prominent feature you'll see when you drive into the South Entrance. There, you'll be greeted by an enormous concrete silo painted with an equally enormous farmland mural. You see, when the Town of East Granby converted the old Viets farmstead into a public park, they left the landmark L. H. Viets silo standing and commissioned a mural to be painted on the silo. It covers the silo from top to bottom and is really quite a gorgeous work of art showing farm scenery, farm animals, rolling hills and a blue sky. Definitely worth your time to swing into the parking lot and check it out.

This park is on 116 acres and provides many recreational options. We came here for the playground…read more The tot lot playscape was nicely maintained and is on mulch with a couple of benches. This playground is for children ages 2-10 and is a fenced in area. Over by the basketball courts, there is the playground for children ages 5-12. Parking was plentiful. Across the street are the restrooms. There are tennis courts right nearby and a huge soccer field. There are ball fields, a bandshell, basketball courts, bathhouse, children's memorial garden, dog park, horse exercise area, horseshoe game area, pavilions, volleyball courts, veteran's wall memorial, swimming in a pond, snack shack during games, and a pond house for events. This place has got it all for your recreational needs!

We visited Salmon Brook Park by parking in the hiking trail entrance so we could wander through the…read morevery pretty area. The hiking trail is very easy to follow and navigate. No rocks, no tree roots, and not too much animal waste except for one enormous deposit that had us wondering if it was squeezed out by a Great Dane or a bear!! We took one of the side trails to the right and entered the river basin where we saw some jaw dropping beautiful vistas down in the valley. Five stars for a photo op, believe me. We walked all the way to the event meadow, but things were quiet today. Salmon Brook Park has a lot to offer - a Band Shell, an Event Room, Baseball Fields, Basketball, Volleyball, and Tennis Courts, Field Hockey, Soccer and Lacrosse Fields, a river, a playground, 2 picnic pavilions, and that very nice network of Hiking Trails. Come to think of it, it has pretty much everything you need to spend a few very nice hours in the great outdoors.

The playground fits into the park perfectly...a tree house and more…read more... Provided by Premier Park & Play from Newton, MA

"Sunrise, sunrise I see we made it through another day"…read more(Norah Jones) A definite 5-Star experience. Sunrise Park is beautiful. It has 134-acres of woods and trails circling gorgeous White Pond. Besides the hiking trail around the lake, we saw a playscape, canoeing/kayaking facilities, fishing areas, a beach with a lifeguard chair, a volleyball court, horseshoe pits, benches, dozens of grills and picnic tables, a pavilion, a clubhouse, and two swimming areas - one for people and one for dogs. How's that for recreational variety? Our walk around the lake was scenic and tranquil, with one gorgeous view after another. The terrain is mostly flat and clear, with the occasional tree root or rock and a muddy patch here and there. It was a totally enjoyable way to kick off a Friday morning.

This is my first time coming here, and I definitely need to return to explore the whole grounds!…read more There is plenty of parking upon entering and a dog park right near the parking lot There is an animal barn, a tobacco museum, picnic areas, a community garden, a maple sugar house, a nature center, a soccer field and 12 miles worth of hiking trails!! This could definitely be an all day adventure.

Northwest Park is a beautiful park located in the Town of Windsor. It is 473 acres and it used to…read morebe a tobacco farm. It's located right on the Farmington River. There are forests, wetlands, fields, and 12 miles of trails. There is a nature center, farm animals, tobacco museum, gardens, playground, and picnic pavilions. The tobacco museum is only opened seasonally. The parking lot was on gravel but there were plenty of spots available when I went; there is a porta potty in the lot as well. You can find restrooms at the nature Center too. Once you walk into the park, there is a viewing platform overlooking a small pond. The pond had goldfishes in it! First we went to the animal barn. There were turkeys, goats, ducks, donkey, chickens, cows, and rabbits. Next door to the barn was the maple sugar house; I don't think it was open when we went. We went into the nature center which was very nice. There were many exhibits, taxidermied local animals, a fish tank, hissing cockroaches, frogs, snake, a gift shop, a turtle pond, a tree house, and a table with puzzles and blocks for the kids. There was a clean bathroom onsite and the attendant working in the nature center was very friendly. The playground was also very nice. There were two playscapes for the different age groups. There were a couple of benches and the large picnic pavilions were nearby. They had a couple of gardens as well; one was an organic garden and the other was a butterfly garden, which was accessible. They had informational signs with braille on it. There are quite a few trails on the property. We walked over to the reservoir and Farmington River; the trails were easy and quiet. You can find the map online and in the Nature Center. There are also soccer fields and a dog park. Seriously, you won't be bored at this place. It's nicely maintained and the people of Windsor are lucky to have this park! I'm looking forward to going back!

The Viets family of East Granby operated a farm and livestock business on this site for many years…read more After the business closed, the land came into the possession of the Town of East Granby, who converted it into an almost 500 acre public park with a recreation center and hiking trails. In a beautiful nod to it's prior owners, the Town not only decided to leave the Viets Farm concrete silo standing, but also commissioned the painting of a mural on it to serve as a huge welcome sign to the park. It stands in the main parking lot entrance to the complex on Route 187. The gorgeous color mural covers every square inch of the silo with a lovely farm motif of animals, scenery and a blue sky. The original lettering was left undisturbed: L. H. VIETS & SONS CATTLE & HORSES It really is a gorgeous and very unexpected sight to see!!

Food was OK. I was there because my school was on an outing, and I was very happy to see all of my…read morestudents enjoy.

high meadow sucks i do not recommend coming here is trash if i could leave a 0 star review I WOULD…read more3 people at my daughter's school faintrd because of lack of water she said kids had to pee in the bushes

July 2016. I am downgrading the spot to 3 from 4. I have been seeing parasites on the fishes…read morecaught here. Most recent trip m, 4?sun fish & one bass, everyone of them got parasites. Either yellow like grain of rice type or tiny black spots in meat. Do not eat fishes caught at rainbow reservoir! If you like fishing, I am sharing my fishing spot especially because I need to write good & useful Yelp reviews :) My spot is to the left of the rainbow reservoir boat launch. The boat is infrequent but the jet ski is a bit annoying to fishermen. However, the spot is productive if you can cast far enough, there is a steep drop off that goes down about 15-20 feet, all kinds of fish there. I've taken my kids there many times, caught sun fish, bass, carp, catfish etc. all at the same spot. Don't eat the bass!!! High Mercury content. Ok to eat sunfish & carp, but carefully check the fish for parasite as I've seen them last year, they look like little grain of rice but yellow in color, yikes! Other than that, it's really fun spot to take the kids & you can BBQ right there as well!

There is so much potential here for great Kayaking, Stand up paddle boarding, or canoeing given the…read moreconvenient location, decent parking area with a boat ramp and flat water. However: 1, The long straight shape of the reservoir makes it an irresistible place for jet skiers to do full throttle high speed runs and boats towing skiers. 2. Between the warmer waters we're seeing and the summer and all the lawn fertilizer runoff from the adjacent houses, I don't think I've ever seen a more algae-choked lake, especially one that is technically part of a river (see photos). It's really unsightly and there are signs warning against contact with the water. It looks like I photoshopped the pictures, but yes --the water is literally this green. You'll have better luck in the pristine upstream parts of the Farmington river or the Connecticut River itself.

Cute little park. Very easy walking trails, well maintained. The bridge is great for scenic…read morephotos. Small pond with a beach. Restrooms fairly clean.

Stratton Brook State Park was established in 1949 and is on 145 acres. It's located in Simsbury and…read morehas a huge parking lot; there's even an accessible parking lot. When I parked my vehicle, the first thing I noticed was the lovely red covered foot bridge and pond. There was a huge structure that has a fireplace and picnic tables; it's called the Massaco Forest Pavilion, it is historic and built in 1935. There is a boardwalk near the small beach and more picnic tables. Dogs are not allowed on the beach. Restrooms are available; a porta potty and in a small building (not sure if it's open). There were easy trails throughout; I walked on a short one and it was peaceful; quite a few people walking, dog walking, and a couple of them were fishing. I have a feeling this place gets busy in the summer and on weekends. I went on a Spring weekday, so it was nice and quiet.

In 1982 the State Department of Environmental Protection acquired the original 425 acres of land…read morewhich would become the Newgate Wildlife Management Area. Today, it has grown to over 600 acres. There is one main trail that heads back to and past Newgate Pond. What appears to be a mileage marker suggests that this was intended as a bike path. Either way, it's about as wide as a one-lane road, and makes a nice alternative to the crowded rails to trails bike paths in the area. There are also side trails coming off of it. Some have old sign posts at their entrances, but no actual signs remain. The main trail is in good shape, suggesting that some maintenance is still performed. I wish I could have seen the area when everything was still in place. Judging by what has been left here to rot, at one time there was a huge project to make this quite the nice park. Now, it looks relatively abandoned as far as promoting it as a recreational area goes. You'll see traps in the trees for tracking invasive insects, so the main trail is probably just being maintained for the DEP to gain access. I like this area because it is so rare to see somebody else here. Judging by all of the condom wrappers in the parking lot, that area probably gets more use than the walking paths do. I come out here at least once a week, and have almost always had the place to just me and my dog. An easy walk about a mile down the main trail takes you to Newgate Pond. This is truly a hidden gem. Bring a blanket and some beers and just sit and watch the noisiest geese in the world swim around and honk at you. Right at the pond, the main trail takes a hard turn to the left. I have yet to explore that far, so I can't tell you where it leads. However, I have seen a cyclist coming from that area, so it may connect to the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail. Do yourself a favor and come explore this forgotten wildlife area. Chances are, you'll have it all to yourself.

Playground review only:…read more One of the best playgrounds I've been to; it's new, clean, and big. My toddler loved it and so did I. Yes, I went down the slide a few times with my infant and he loved it too. The view from the playground was also spectacular, the rolling hills of Simsbury. This playground is located near a golf course, rink, tennis/basketball courts, and trail. I have not used those yet, so no review on those. The playground had a bunch of picnic tables under a gazebo. There were playscapes for 2-5 year olds as well as 5-12 year olds. One of the playscapes has 3 levels if you count the ground. My favorites were the green tube and red swirly slides. There is a sign to take trash out with you since there are no trash cans. I noticed an older playground down the hill but it was muddy so I didn't go in it. I liked the rubber ground with mulch; smelled really fresh lol. Overall, great playground and will be using it often.

New playground is amazing!!! Great job town of Simsbury! We had not been up there in a while and…read morewas very pleased to be welcomed by a beautiful recreational area; tennis courts, pickle ball games, swings, basketball court and of course the huge playscape! Looking forward to get on the ice and the back on the playground some time soon