The kids and I hiked our 40th Connecticut State Park! I feel accomplished! When looking at a map of all the Connecticut State Parks, Seth Low Pierrepont, Bennett’s Pond and Wooster Mountain are all close together. Originally I thought maybe we could take a day and hit all three. Nope! Don’t do that. Each park deserves it’s fair share of your time. We haven’t done Wooster Mountain yet; will certainly get that one done in 2024 and we tackled Seth Low Pierrepont in 2023. Here’s our journey at Bennett’s Pond.
I parked at the small trail head on Bennett’s Farm Rd. It’s a smaller lot and was almost full! I’m always happy to see that because it means a lot of people like the hike. We went clockwise on the map below. The long straight stretch in the beginning was wide and flat, probably great snowshoeing path too.
This is a great hike to do when there are no leaves on the trees because then you can see the pond even when you are not up close to it, like we were for a good stretch of the hike.
One thing the kids and I did not like about this hike was all the mud! Not the hikes fault, just the large amount of rain we’ve had, but it made us go a lot slower and overall the hike took a lot longer than I was expecting. Our hike took over an hour.
This hike had a lot of vernal pools! Great kid fun!
My favorite part was the actual pond, I thought it was breathtaking and so peaceful. We saw a gorgeous family of swans too.
If you have followed me on Instagram, you know I have a love of rocks! I loved coming across these large specimens of geologic beauty and putting my hand on them. It feels like a moment to connect to the earth.
There are some hikes the kids and I say we’d like to return to in a different season, not this one. Perfect for winter! Make sure to wear your hats and gloves. FYI, there are no amenities at this park (no restrooms in sight).
I’m keeping my expectations low this year for how many Connecticut State Parks we will check off our list. We have a busy year ahead! Have you hiked anywhere fun in Connecticut recently?
Momma Wanderer 