HikeArizona.COM

I'm heading to Connecticut for a business trip and will have some time on the weekend for a hike. Anyone here recommend any hikes near Farmington?

I'm not really familiar with that area (apart from many trips driving through on 84). CT has a fair amount of State Forests, so I would check there.

There are some CT trails listed here on HAZ
http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=10468

There is also a book listing best day hikes in CT in the HAZ Book Section
http://hikearizona.com/books.php?ID=920&STu=7

In CT you'll typically only find small (relative to Arizona) pieces of public land. But there are some beautiful parts of the state. I'm really only familiar with the southwest corner.

The HAZ MapDEX can help get you started. You'll likely need to research elsewhere for details though.

Look for Sessions Woods (Nassahegon), Ragged Mountain, Talcott Mountain, and Penwood State Park nearby.

I have relatives up north in East Hartland near the Mass border. Check the Tunxis State Forest and spots around the huge Barkhamsted Reservoir for hikes in that area if you don't mind driving a little farther.

Here's a link to state park and state forest maps in CT:
http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2 ... v_GID=1650

edit: the mapDEX link is only on Hartford area hikes right now. Change to All Regions for more hikes. CT is a small state. HAZ regions in AZ are larger than all of CT! Perspective!

I lived in CT for 40 years. There are several regions that offer up great hiking. The first is the Kent area in the western part of the state and the AT runs 52 miles to the border of Mass. I backpacked this section of the AT in 1982 and it is gorgeous. Something a little closer to the Hartford area is Devils Hopyard State Park in East Haddam. Another area to look at is on the far eastern side of CT called Pachaug State Forest. It's a small state and everything is within a 2 hour drive. Not sure when your business trip is but best foliage is usually around October 15th. Bring bug juice and watch for the deer ticks.

Back in the days when I was serious about my mountain biking, the Road Apple Mountain Biking Trail in Farmington was considered to be one of the ultimate rides anywhere. If you think I'm a daft o' buzzard, then take up your complaints with Ned Overend, http://www.singletracks.com/bike-trails/road-apple.html.

I recently moved back to AZ from CT and would also mention Devil's Hopyard, Sleeping Giant, Talcott Mountain State Park/ Avon Mountain (closest to Farmington), Soapstone in Ellington, Valley Falls or even Shenipsit Trail for a little cross country hike. They have 'rails to trails' which is old railroads turned to trails. You can cover some distance on those. If you want a little more fall foliage and can steal some time, head up to the Berkshire's and hit the Mohawk Trail. At the shore you could hit the trail at Hammonasset Beach.

The only thing I've ever done in Farmington was fished. Oh and drank beer. I've also been drinking beer 40 minutes SE of there on Lake Zoar. The weather here has been horrible. 80's for highs and 60's at night. Hiking down to the boat dock is my hiking. Hope this helps ;)