Ended up at this park by accident and we can't wait to go back and explore a bit more…read more At first this park seems like an open field and parking lot but if you walk over the bridge and pond, it opens up to the rest of the grounds and the Connecticut tobacco museum. They have a few farm animals like horses, cows, donkeys, rabbits, chickens, and more. The barn includes information about all of the animals and the nature center has more information about Connecticut's nature scene. There's also a trail that seems to lead pretty far out. We'll check it out next time.

Wonderful hidden gem especially for families with small children. They have trails a barn with…read moreanimals and the playground which our children loved.

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!

It was very peaceful place to walk as well as very friendly people the little mini beach with the…read moresand is very cool

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

Came here for a run while staying near BDL and really enjoyed the trail along the Connecticut…read moreRiver! You really get that feeling that you're out in nature--the sights, the smells, the sounds, everything. The path is suitable for walking, running and cycling. How I wish I could enjoy it in the fall with the changing colors!

Absolutely gorgeous, magical day, the kind that makes one thankful for the opportunity to enjoy…read morenature...sunny, mid 60's, low humidity, gentle breeze. Blue heron right after you enter from the south terminus. Lots of turtles basking. Eagles (adult and 2 juvies) visible in their nest, with another adult high above about 50 yds north. Another uge (we don't pronounce the "h" where I'm from) blue heron about 7/10ths of a mile from the start. Ducks, geese, hawk. Haven't seen a rabbit yet this year. My theory is that overcutting on the bank of the canal-side has caused rabbits to change their habits (seriously). No place to hide from predators. Everyone friendly...strollers, fishermen, bicyclists.... I tried to make a video of the song, "I was strolling thru the park one day, in the very merry month of May...". Lucky for the reader / listener that my phone was having memory issues. Always a 5 star!

First you should know that Rainbow Reservoir is not at 2 Walters Way, and that is a PRIVATE Road…read moreabout three houses before the entrance to the boat launch ramp. Rainbow Reservoir is a part of the Farmington River, and thus the blue algae bloom that happens in very hot years with low rainfall is not due to the very few land owners with property abutting the reservoir. There are miles and miles of the river that starts in Massachusetts, the longest portion of which is the West Branch, making the river a total of 84 miles long. Along all these miles, the river abuts all kinds of different properties from farms to industrial and residential. I am not saying that folks with abutting properties to Rainbow Reservoir don't contribute to the problem, but they are a drop in the hat compared to everything else that line the miles of the Farmington River. Another point I would like to mention is about the draining of Rainbow Reservoir. This is not done by "the town" as one reviewer said, and in fact even officials of DEEP have told me the State of Connecticut has very little control over the dam due to grandfather clauses. The dam is the property of the Farmington River Power Company, (the sole reason there is a reservoir in the first place, is because they built the dam in 1928 to make hydroelectric power). The power company drains the reservoir to do maintenance on the dam and turbines, and seemingly have little regard for the eco system damage they may or may not be doing. They also have little regard for the boaters and loath the land owners that line what they call "The Pond". Those of you who complain about the "high powered boats" may like to know that those folks have been using Rainbow Reservoir to ski on since the early 70's, a time when nobody used it to kayak the reservoir, and there were very few other folks using the reservoir. The reason the skiers continue to use "The Rez" is that it is one of the best places in CT to water ski and barefoot waterski due to the flat calm water. Those who waterski on Rainbow Reservoir actually have boats that purposely make small wakes for skiing, (which is obviously better for kayaks), and are geared down to pull skiers, not go fast. These skiers co-existed with fisherman in boats very well for years, because they both wanted the same thing, calm flat water. Now that anybody can be on the water with a cheap kayak, the kayakers, (aka new comers), complain about the boaters, and fill the long parking spots designed for vehicles with trailers, with single cars, with no regard to the fact that they are using a spot designed for a trailer rig, even when they kayak in groups with multiple cars and could stack their cars in one or two of the trailer spots to use less spots. They pay no boat registration fee that goes to building and maintaining boat launch ramps, nor do they pay anywhere near the property taxes and other taxes the boaters do on their rigs that go towards boating and fishing. Kayakers also need to realize that Rainbow Reservoir is a river and it is generally narrow, so 90% of the boaters use the Res in a counter clockwise direction for safety reasons, thus they do not want to veer off course to avoid a kayak and hit an oncoming boat instead. By trying to kayak down the middle of the reservoir, often in large groups spread 3 or 4 kayaks wide, on the wrong side, they put themselves and others in a dangerous position. If they would stay closer to the edges, and stay single file as the boaters generally do, it would be much safer for all. One last point that a kayaker probably doesn't think of, and that is draft. Rainbow Res has a lot of shallow spots, and the boaters cannot go everywhere it might seem like they could to the average person. These folks know Rainbow, and know what their boats draw for water. They have to stay in that "channel" so to speak. By the way, so that you don't think I'm anti kayak by this review, let it be known that we own four kayaks, one for each family member, and I sell them for a living as well. Share the water, there's room for everyone if we want to be respectful towards one another.

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!

A short walk from the parking area (equipped w an outhouse). Very well constructed stone and…read morewooden steps / stairways going gradually downhill. Hand railings help. Both upper and lower falls not very forceful in the dog days of summer, especially w little recent rain. Probably a better time to visit is spring. Still, very scenic and well shaded on a hot summer day. And there are many opportunities to cool off in the babbling brook! Note approx 130 steps total, broken off in sections. Not really handicapped accessible.

Absolutely loved this park!…read more Parking was plentiful and a porta-potty available. My family and I did the easy out and back 1-mile trail, Enders Brooks Falls. This was easy enough for my 3 year old. The trail was along the water; stairs and railings were meticulous installed for the safety of nature lovers of all ages. We were in awe by all the waterfalls; the sounds, ambiance, and smells were so peaceful. We saw quite a few people enjoying it too but it wasn't crowded. This park is located in Barkhamsted and Granby; both beautiful towns. There is a second out and back 4.4-mile trail, Fox Road Trail; we didn't hike this one yet but look forward to it next time.

Hidden gem alert!…read more This waterfall is located in the Mclean Game Refuge. It's about 18-20 ft high. The best time to see it is after it rains and in the spring. Based on AllTrails, the easiest way to get there is off Simsbury Road and Broad Hill Road. That is about a 0.7 one way hike to the falls. I parked at the other end of Broad Hill Road and Cone Mountain. It's definitely the longer way but the trail was nice and flat; it's an old dirt road. I parked on the street. On the other entrance, I read that it can fit about 4 cars. It was a nice walk to the falls maybe about a mile one way. The falls was roaring today (April 29, 2026). I saw a few people walking and even a person on a horse. It's a nice waterfall and definitely worth a visit!

This waterfall is a little hard to find but normally worth the effort. I say "normally" because…read morewhen we have had lots of rain and snow it is a beautiful roaring waterfall. But during my visit Sunday it was a skinny waterfall due to our dryer weather. It's a little hard to find. There isn't an official parking lot just a link fence. It's part of the McClean Game Wildlife Refuge. After following the gravel trail for about 20 minutes, which really used to be Broad Hill Road before this portion of the road was closed, you reach a small unofficial bridge where the falls are and have to bushwhack yourself to the base to have the best view,

Small but fun trail in Vernon , CT About 1.4 miles one way. There are also connecting loops of 0.3…read moreand 0.4 miles. Dog friendly. Plenty of beautiful birds and animals along this hiking trail.

"Why so unforgiving and why so cold Been a long time…read morecrossing the bridge of sighs" (Robin Trower -Bridge of Sighs) I subscribe to e-mails from "Only in Your State". They're a web service that spotlights oddities, curiosities, and attractions across the Nutmeg State. When they recently posted about a 100-foot long rope bridge somewhere between Vernon and Ellington, well how can you blame me for instantly wanting to go check it out? It turned out that finding it was pretty difficult. I did some research and learned that the bridge is part of the Hockanum River Trail, a loose collection of disjointed trail sections that frustrates even experienced hikers, which we most definitely are not. At first, I thought the bridge was in Ellington, so we found the Ellington trailhead near Windemere Avenue last week, walked around quite a bit, but couldn't find the damn bridge. So, I wrote to Steve Wood, whose name I found on a lot of hiking blogs and asked him for help on how to find that bridge. He wrote back and said, "don't feel bad - the Hockanum River Trail is a mysterious mistress". He sent me a map which directed me to a parking lot on Windsorville Road in Vernon, more or less between Penfield Avenue and Franklin Street. It took us a while to figure out that the bridge was on the opposite side of Windsorville, so you have to walk across the street to get there. We originally went the wrong way and between the mud and bugs, we luckily bailed before the conditions became intolerable. But when we corrected our mistake and found the bridge, it was worth every minute of our fruitless hikes. The David Smith Bridge (named after Vernon Town Engineer David Smith) is a 100-foot suspension bridge across the Hockanum River connecting the Vernon and Ellington sections of the Hockanum River Trail. I've never seen, let alone walked, on anything like it in my life. Walking across that bridge and feeling it sway slightly back and forth was one very cool experience.

Beautiful path to walk around the reservoir in every season. I wish there were a few more benches…read morealong the path.

I'm amazed by the beauty of this place!…read more MDC operates the water treatment plants located at this reservoir. This is a privately owned area and not a public park. There was MDC Police that patrolled the area when I was there. Parking was plentiful when we went on a beautiful spring weekday. There were clean porta potties onsite. There were trails in the woods and out in the open; the trails were paved and gravel. It is opened daily from sunrise to sunset and closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas. There were two trails; 3.4-mile loop red trail and 2.0-mile loop yellow trail. We started off with the gravel yellow trail that has a slight incline. Then we got onto part of the red loop which was near the bridge overlooking the water. We saw a couple of deer in the woods, geese, and turtles in the water. This is where we walked on pavement. Some of the trees were marked by type. The trail was busy with walkers and bikers. Overall, I really enjoyed the hike/walk and can't wait to go back.

When looking for a place for a quick walk and a picnic, we were excited to check out Filley Park…read more Although the park is quite small, it was really enjoyable to walk around the wooded trail before walking around the pond and gardens. The wooded loop trail is probably about half a mile and the walk through the garden is probably another ~.15-.25 miles; both are mostly flat. There are tons of benches and a few picnic tables to enjoy the scenery and do some birdwatching. We visited on a Sunday afternoon and the park wasn't too busy. We were able to find a picnic table, that was pretty clean, and enjoy a picnic lunch. All-in-all, we really enjoyed our time and we will definitely be back on a regular basis as it's conveniently located in between all of our errands.

Tremendous progress has been made in the reclamation and renovation of Filley Park…read more When I first visited and posted in 2013, the place was a mess. The Pond was full of silt, and needed to be excavated and restored. Massive populations of ducks and geese had done their things and fouled up the area. When I next visited in 2018 a lot of progress had been made. I saw all sorts of construction activity, heavy equipment, and big piles of dirt and gravel. Improvements to sidewalks, landscaping, and lighting were underway, as was the dredging and refilling of the Pond. And when I visited yesterday, I saw much more! The sidewalks and benches and seating areas are finished. The Pond looks great, The ducks and geese are mostly gone, and a few straggles were clustered way off to the side. There's still some construction equipment on site, and excavation continues, but the overall progress is quite remarkable. We walked around the Pond as far as we could and took a stroll on some of their hiking trails.