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Nearby Parks:
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Algonquin State Forest
Reeves Lookout State Wildlife Area
Meshomasic State Forest
Humaston Brook State Park
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Mattatuck State Forest
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| State Park Overview: |
 | Penwood State Park offers almost 800 acres of four-season fun just a short drive from the Capitol City. |
| Reviews By Park Visitors: |
| Be the 1st to Review Penwood State Park. You can rate it, post a comment on it, or do both. |
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| Trails: |
| Most hiking trails start and end in the main picnicking area. Each trail is a color-coded loop with the exception of the Nature Trail built by the Youth Conservation Corps. This trail encircles Lake Louise and passes by the pinnacle overlook.
An extensive trail system is maintained in cooperation with the Connecticut Forest and Park Association, which provides volunteer assistance. For information on volunteering for trail activities throughout the state contact the Connecticut Forest and Park Association, 16 Meriden Road, Rockfall, CT 06481; Telephone: (860) 346-2372. |
| History of the Area: |
| A long wooded ridge dominates the sunset-side of the Connecticut River Valley in the vicinity of Hartford. Crested atop the northerly portion of the Talcott Mountain Range lies a sizable portion of the public domain, Penwood State Park. With this gift in 1944 to the citizens of Connecticut of nearly 800 acres, Curtis H. Veeder wished only that his beloved hilltop, "be kept in a natural state so that those who love nature may enjoy this property as I have enjoyed it."
Veeder was an industrialist, inventor and outdoorsman. Early maps of Penwood evidence Veeder's engineering skill and demand for precise accuracy. Surveying, often after dark, he used a complex theodolite instrument and a flashlight to establish a true meridian line from the exact position of a star.
Ardent hikers, Veeder and his wife, Louise, built many trails from which to more intimately observe the wildlife, woodland phenomena and scenic vistas surrounding the mountain. Appropriately, a section of Connecticut's Blue Blazed Trail system, the Metacomet, now traverses much of Penwood.
In April, as the snow recedes, colorful wildflowers carpet gravelly pockets of soil. The trillium is common as are dutchman's breeches, hepatica, bloodroot, and trailing arbutus. Occasionally the hiker may glimpse the flight of a pileated woodpecker, turkey vulture or bald eagle.
Honoring the donor's request, ground-fires, horses and camping are excluded from the activities at Penwood. |
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| Area Accommodations |
| B&Bs / Inns | | The Tolland Inn - 1790s inn on historic village green. Close to University of Connecticut. Seven guest rooms/suites with private baths, full breakfast. Antiques and hand-made furniture throughout. |
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| | Note to Park related businesses:
List your vacation cabin, weekend getaway, log cabin rental, romantic cottage, vacation home, resort, hotel, motel, bed and breakfast, country inn, campground, RV park, horseback riding stable, canoe livery, river rafting, outfitting, sporting goods store, guide service, RV rental or any other park related activity, park related attraction or park related service on Google or StateParks.com. (more).... |
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| Related Links: |
| Penwood State Park Information - Penwood State Park, located in Bloomfield, CT, offers almost 800 acres of four-season fun just a short drive from the Capitol City. | | Talcott Mountain State Park Information - The beautifully appointed Heublein family dining room at Talcott Mountain State Park in Bloomfield ... Talcott Mountain State Park c/o Penwood State Park 57 Gun Mill Road Bloomfield, CT 06002 ... | | NEMBA: New England Mountain Bike Association - Trail Protection: Bike Patrols - ... Great Brook Farm State Park in Massachusetts, the MDC's West Hartford Reservoir Complex and Penwood State Park in Connecticut, and a patrol is in the process of forming at Arcadia State Park in ... | | Simsbury Ski Club Hill - ... of the generally North-South running Talcott (avon) Mountain below Penwood State Park. I never skied there, but from what one of ... trails that led into Penwood State Park to the top of the ... | | The Great Outdoors! - ... 0856 Rocky Hill Dinosaur State Park 529-8423 Simsbury Penwood State Park 424-3200 Stratton Brook State Park 658-5593 Talcott Mntn ... Bike spply 693-8891 Simsbury Penwood State Park 424-3200 West ... | | Vernon-Rockville, Connecticut - Community Information - Gateway for the community offers information on real estate, local government or places of worship ... Hill Dinosaur State Park 529-8423 Simsbury Penwood State Park 424-3200 Stratton Brook State ... |
| Directions: |
| From I-91 North or South: take Exit 35B which is the Bloomfield Route 218 exit. This road is also known as Cottage Grove Road. Follow Cottage Grove Road heading west until you reach Route 185. Follow Route 185 heading for Simsbury. At the top of the hill, the entrance to Penwood will be on your right.
From I-84 East or West: take the Route 44 Exit. Follow Route 44 heading west until the junction of Routes 10 and 202 in the town of Avon. Follow Route 10 north until you reach Route 185 in Simsbury. Follow Route 185 heading for Bloomfield. At the top of the hill, Penwood is on your left. |
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