My wife Katie and I (Jim, not Zack) started a new tradition of participating in the “First Day Hikes”, a program hosted by the CT state park system. It’s exactly what it sounds like. CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection organizes several hikes on the first day of the year at state parks throughout the Connecticut. In fact, most states in the country host a “First Day Hike”, so you don’t have to be a Nutmegger to enjoy this tradition!
We started this in 2020, after completing the 2019 CT DEEP Sky’s the Limit hiking challenge. If you completed all 14 hikes, you were entered into a raffle to win a handcrafted hiking stick, with names selected on 1/1/20 at the CT DEEP Wildlife Division office in Burlington CT. Having completed all 14 hikes, and wanting that stick, Katie accompanied me to claim my prize. Spoiler alert, my name didn’t get called. But we did learn about this program and participated in a very large group hike at Session Woods WMA before the ceremony.
Fast forward through the rest of 2020, which was a great year for us. No, that’s not sarcasm. We welcomed a new addition to our family, Theodore. Of course we wanted to keep the hiking tradition going in 2021. Though having a 3 month old certainly limited our selection of parks. And because of COVID, we wanted to avoid a hike that may have attracted a lot of people. Fortunately, Mansfield Hollow State Park was on the list. This was a perfect choice for two reasons. It’s only 20 minutes away from where we live, and there are additional trails around Mansfield Hollow Lake which aren’t part of Mansfield Hollow State Park, which hopefully allowed us to avoid a potential crowd.
Mansfield Hollow Lake features a dam on its eastern side, with Mansfield Hollow State Park beginning north of the dam. There is a trail that goes almost completely around the lake, but the trail is physically separated at the two ends of the dam, making it impossible to access one trail from the other. Fortunately, this second trail which ends at the southern tip of the dam is just as scenic. And because it is only accessible from the Windham Airport- ironically a 10 minute drive away- it is much less populated. This was our destination!
The trail begins at a commuter parking lot located off Route 6 in Windham CT, across the street from a Tractor Supply. There is no GPS address, unfortunately.
The trail can be found on AllTrails and is called the Flood Control Levee trail. The trail itself is a very easy 2.5 mile out and back on a pavement, with no elevation gain. Absolutely perfect for a stroller, and has lovely views all the way to the end.
The trail runs along the top of a somewhat steep stone dam. To the left of the trail, you’re treated to frequent single-engine aircraft take offs and landing at the Windham airport. We were surprised with how quiet they were. We had a hard time telling the difference between a plane taking off and a tractor trailer driving by on Route 6. A flight school is also run from this location.
On the right, the trail has constant vistas of Mansfield Hollow Lake. It winds through several spillways but does have sections of straight pathing.
The trail ends at the southern tip of the dam. There’s a bench to take in the lake views, laugh at crowds on the other side that can’t reach you, and a picnic table. We saw very few people on the trail, and had it mostly to ourselves.
Our days of traveling to far off lands for rugged hikes are probably limited for the foreseeable future, and that’s perfectly okay. It just means we have to find even more local trails near us, and eastern CT has no shortage of preserves worth exploring! I started making a list of kid friendly trails near us we can continue exploring as Theodore gets older. Definitely glad we’re so close to this wonderful location!
Who this trail is for
Runners, people with kids or strollers, people with accessibility or mobility issues.
Overall Rating: 4/5
Pros: Very flat, paved trail with scenic vistas and lack of crowds. Surely a great place to visit in the fall!
Cons: It’s more of a promenade than a nature hike. If you’re looking for something that has some challenge and variety to it, the Airline State Park Trail from Scotland Road to North Windham and the Two Sisters Trail are both less than a mile away.
