Enjoy an invigorating hike from Simsbury to Bloomfield co-sponsored by the Traprock Ridge Land Conservancy (TRLC), Simsbury Land Trust (SLT), and Bloomfield Parks, Recreation & Leisure Services. The free hike – now in its 11th year – will showcase TRLC, SLT, and town properties that provide trail connectivity linking the two towns through Penwood State Park. And the fall scenery should be gorgeous!

The hike will be approximately 5 miles. Meet at 9:00 a.m. at the hike’s end point, the Oliver Filley House in LaSalette Park in Bloomfield (120 Mountain Ave). (Google map) Bloomfield Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Services will provide a bus to shuttle hikers to this year’s starting point, SLT’s Tanager Hill property in Simsbury. SLT’s Walk Book notes that Tanager Hill is “the most diverse parcel” of preserved land in Simsbury.

The group will proceed through Tanager Hill to the yellow trail in Penwood State Park. In Penwood, hikers will visit Lake Louise and The Pinnacle for spectacular fall views of Simsbury and the Farmington Valley.

From there, the hike will proceed southeast to TRLC’s Stout Family Fields, Bloomfield’s gateway to Penwood State Park. From there we’ll do a short stretch on the road to reach TRLC’s Hawk Hill Farm property, a working farm with passive recreation trails and several notable trees, including a magnificent American elm. Hawk Hill adjoins Bloomfield’s LaSalette Park, where the trail will return the group to the historic Oliver Filley House and their vehicles.

We invite you to take advantage of this annual opportunity to experience a different mode of journeying between our two neighboring towns and enjoy the end of the fall color. RSVP to help us plan ahead. Thank you!