I stopped here today for my picnic lunch. The park is quite large at 237 acres at the south end of…read moreHartford and extending into the town of Wethersfield. The Park was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822 - August 28, 1903) who was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture. Olmsted was famous for co-designing many well-known urban parks with his senior partner Calvert Vaux. There are multiple entrances into the park where you will find tennis courts, basketball courts and a softball diamond. There are two trails, an Olympic sized pool and picnic areas. The playscape and spray pad are pretty cool though there was some litter. The separate golf course https://www.yelp.com/biz/goodwin-park-golf-course-hartford-3 is over 6000 yards. Limited parking and no fences at the street edges or around the playground. Trash cans were overfull today. [Review 15181 overall, 683 of 2021, number 33 in Connecticut.]

"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.

There's 4 access total, this one on S. Maple is the closest to the water. However, parking lot is…read moresmall & in the summer, I run into several vans parked there were working on AC. Looks like HVAC companies taking over the parking lot for work, one dude working out of his van was shirtless with full bear belly on display. I felt uncomfortable & left quickly. There's no park bench or anything like that along the river. The West entrance is the worst, smallest lot only fits 3 cars, long walking path to the river that's super narrow, some times only a foot wide & feels creepy, I'd avoid. The east entrance is very roomy, easily park 10 cars there with walking path 12 feet wide. However, it's very far to the river, at least half a mile walk. The 4th entrance is on Bayleys, I couldn't even find the parking lot, lol, nothing there.

A nice little secluded riverside scenic park. There are three trails, two of which are pretty…read moreovergrown once you get into the summer season. One follows along the river, one crosses the river into the woods, and the third goes up a small hill. They're all three quiet and surrounded by greenery and a pleasant, although not particularly long, walk. There's also parking for a few cars at the end of the road leading up to the trails.

"Those summer days Them summer days…read moreThat's when I had most of my fun Hot fun in the summertime" (Sly and the Family Stone) Today was a hot summer day and we enjoyed spending a few hours exploring and walking around in Mill Woods Park. We saw a few baseball fields, tennis courts, a dog park, lots of pretty flowers, a very nice swimming area, and took a nice leisurely stroll on a flat wide newly cut grass walking path. We didn't see a lot of people out there today, but we did see a whole bunch of butterflies, birds and a bunny rabbit perched ahead of us on the path. He skedaddled when we got close. We also heard the public address announcer for a little league game across the lake, and he was a hoot as he did his best Michael Buffer imitations as each new batter came up to bat.

Mill Woods is on our family local park menu. There is a kids' play area. It doesn't have the best…read moreor newest playscape or other equipment, but it's pretty good and I think it may be the most shaded kids' play area around. That makes it a great choice for hot days and a not so great choice when there is morning dew that needs to evaporate from the slides, etc. There are two nice baseball/softball fields, a skate area, a soccer field, a basketball court, tennis courts, mostly flat walking trails through the woods, a bocce area, a pond, a gazebo, a dog park and more. I've seen all sorts of birds including a bald eagle and hawks. Mill Woods is definitely worth keeping on your park list.

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 very quiet, heavily forested hike in the quiet corner. It's a beautiful place for a fall hike…read more The only downside is that there's no real elevation gain. Great for trail running though! Take note of the reservoir bog and bird lookout. Shout across the open space and you might be able to hear your echo!

Since I was a child, this has been one of my favorite places to collect my thoughts and enjoy the…read morebeauty of Mother Nature.

This is a cute park on a triangle of land surrounded by quaint houses. There is a dirt pathway you…read morecan drive into and park. It was originally dedicated on the bicentennial in honor of 200 years of America. In the park itself, there's a gazebo with stairs I would recommend being cautious on (but the rest of the gazebo seems sound). There are also benches along a stone wall, which divides the park in two. On the other side of the wall, there is an enclosed space I saw people playing with a very happy dog in. Right now it's a little muddy from the snow melting, but it must be nice to picnic in the fall! John E Julian seems to have been a lifelong Stafford resident and prominent citizen. He was a Korean War Veteran, and went on to politics. He served as State Representative from 1974 to 1978, and then as First Selectman of Stafford from 1977 to 1987, and again from 1993 to 2001. He served on a whole bunch of committees and clubs, and seems to have really made his mark during the time he had.

Tree in honor of my uncle who owned property in town along with a marker. Peaceful spot on a…read morebeautiful spring afternoon!

Owen Bell is a staple in our town. They have everything…read morefrom tennis court, splash pad, to a newly paved running track, baseball field and a skate park. The park is clean and I enjoy that there is ice cream readily available on site! (Ra Ras) My husband and I have played softball there through our league and the field is OKAY, it could use a little TLC as far as the outfield is uneven in left center, almost like there's a pipe or something under the field. What I would like to see is some sort of concession stand for the complex. A lot of the times we come from work and just need something quick before the game or after the game or even when we're watching our nephews at the playground. Overall this park is clean, accessible, and diverse for activities!

Great places for kids, updated and clean. The ice cream place is also amazing. I highly recommend.read more