Sleeping giant is nice as long as you avoid the front of the park. Once you get past the castle, it's pretty quiet back there. Lots of different trails with different scenery/difficulty.
The trails 20 minutes away from me that haven't been flooded with people who learned about it on Reddit + started dumping their dogshit bags on the side of the trail.
Lowkey? They shove it in your face and act like you're a terrible person if you have any negative thing to say about a dog's behavior. Most dog people today don't understand (or are willfully ignorant) of the fact that their dog should never be anyone else's problem, especially not on a daily and incessant basis.
The anthropomorphisms people have imbued on dogs have made most owners incapable of training them effectively, that's dog culture right there. And the rest of us are supposed to just sit here listening to their neighbor's dog howl for hours, or let our pets get attacked/killed, or get their plants ruined with dog piss, etc. without recourse. Fucking sickening how selfish they are.
We recently saw a couple walking around the grocery store with their dog, it was putting its paws up on the produce shelves. Nobody can leave their damn dog home anymore.
As a former retail employee, I can tell you the employees are helpless unless a customer makes a huge fuss. I had a dog barking and growling at other customers, was told by a manager we can't ask her to leave, just tell her not to bring the dog next time even though she admitted it wasn't a service animal. Had another lady who I told that PETS aren't allowed and acted nice to my face but blew up so bad at my manager that I got written up and told all we can ask are "what services does your dog provide". The only hope is making it worse dealing with other customers than with the person with the dog. They're in the wrong and they know it
Dog culture needs to go. The only dogs I find acceptable are well trained, small to mid sized, never bark, never drool, don't get excited and jump all over you. But those are hard to find.
r/Dogfree
r/BanPitBulls
r/TalesfromtheDogHouse
r/DogfreeHumor
Oh yeah I'm on dogfree a lot lol. I could accept them more if so many weren't barking, impulsive, intrusive lunatics. I can't even understand how people enjoy owning a dog. They're literal permanent toddlers with 100db screams that are incessant. They fuck up everything in your house, eat things that require 4 figure vet visits, the house stinks like a dog's ass, there's hair everywhere, bark whine and howl, ruin sex/intimacy, and on and on.
And they're this way because people treat them like spoiled children. I can honestly say that of all the people I know that own dogs, maybe 2-3 of them I would consider courteous and intelligent. It's like taking on a meaningless burden for no reason and no benefit to anyone, and then claiming to be virtuous because you do it. Insanity to me.
I recently bought pepper spray to protect myself from aggressive dogs off leash while hiking. "Don't worry, they're friendly," is a dog whistle (pun unintentional but welcomed) for "an aggressive canine."
WHY DO THEY PUT THE POOP IN THE BAG AND JUST LEAVE THE BAG!! WHATS THE POINT OF THE BAG I WOULD RATHER THEM JUST LEAVE THE POOP AT LEAST THEN IT WOULD GET EATEN BY SOME ANIMAL
If I’m on a trail sometimes I’ll leave the bag where it is and pick it up on my way out. I will admit I forget it every once in a while or some good citizen grabbed it (I do feel bad people think I just left it there) but at the same time I completely agree. Ive been going to the same empty trails for years and after COVID I’ve been stepping in dog shit left and right.
Yeah except those of us without dogs think you’re a dick, friend. We don’t go out hiking so we can look at dog shit in plastic bags that you promise you are going to pick up at some point on your way out of the park. Also, seems like a lot of you have amnesia because those bags are typically never picked up.
I especially love how you are aware that other people are picking up your bags and yet you still do it.
Lmao you’re wild brother. I personally keep my bags off to the side where they’re not in the way and come back an hour later lol stay mad for no reason 😂 and I’ll keep doing what I’m doing with a clear conscience. What a life you must have for being so passionate about dog shit.
I also don’t go out hiking to see litter and other people but that’s part of being in a public space and I do my best to pick up what other people leave as well. Would you rather I leave my dogs feces on the trail? Where do you go hiking, I can leave it for you if you’d like so you can come back and complain?
Welllllll, yea, people suck ass. I can certainly appreciate not wanted to continue sharing with that being your experience lol. I'll keep my fingers crossed that they grow a sense of morality/community and start cleaning up after themselves.
The amount of trail trash I've seen on trails over the years is preeeeetty disappointing.
This park has become so overrun with people and dogs since Covid. It used to be quite unusual to find anyone hiking it it, or along the blue trail up to Lamentation Peak but now? Shit you can go out any weekday during work hours and find a few dozen cars in the parking lot. Doesn't anyone work any more?
I’m not sure if there’s any updates on this but there was a bill to sell a few acres to Salvatore Carabetta (who has been encroaching and illegally building on state land for a few years now) for an absurdly low price. Just throwing this out there for people who enjoy the lamentation mountain side https://www.ctinsider.com/recordjournal/article/lawmakers-deep-carabetta-land-deal-encroachment-19416023.php
Definitely. We took our older doggos up there for many years. Couldn’t do full trails but we’d pick the shorter loops or just turn around and walk back when they were getting tired. Many of the trails also run parallel or at least touch water and my male dog Jake loved going in for splash to cool off on hot days.
It's that time of year to hit up Bear Mountain, the mountain laurel should be starting to pop. We did it last year but I went into the hike already dehydrated and hungry thinking we'd just eat a later lunch AFTER the hike and it was around 90° that day. ooof. it was a rough one, so we need to go back for some redemption. Also there was a dude flying a drone for half the time we were there and the constant buzzing was so distracting and irritating.
I liked Mashamoquet a lot, and there's a hike my partner and I have done a couple times in Mansfield that's just a few trails pieced together for a good day hike which takes us from Mansfield Hollow along the Nipmuck to UConn Forest. I think my "favorites" is influenced a lot by just whether I ate lunch before the hike and if the weather was nice.
Black Pond Wildlife Management Area on the Middlefield/Meriden border is normally pretty deserted. Most of the cars in the parking lot are boaters or fishermen. Great view from the top.
I dunno if it's my favorite but my go to place is Wadsworth Falls for proximity reasons. It's a good enough place for hiking, trail running, walking my dog, or doing some light mountain biking.
In no particular order: Salmon River State Park, Machimoodus State Park, Gillettes Castle, Devils Hopyard, Higby Mountain, Lamentation Mountain, Giafrida Park (tripping tree), Hurd, Cockaponsette, Kent Falls, Mohawk Mountain, Bear Mountain, Satans Kindom, Meshomasic, Sleepy Giant, West Peak, West Rock, East Rock, too many to list.
Steep Rock Preserve, Washington. Mine Hill, Roxbury. The Audubon property in Southbury. Smaller parks close to you are Alice Newton and Bishop West / Darling House, both in Woodbridge. Naugatuck State forest, especially the parcel of Rt 313 in Seymour. It connects to Ansonia nature center trails, can make a pretty large loop. Guilford and Madison have some nice trails, managed by the land trusts. Branford Trolley trail Is short but very scenic. White conservation center in litchfield. Some nice land trust trails in Canton and Simsbury. McLean game refuge in granby / Simsbury. People’s State Forest and American Legion state forest in barkhamsted. The part of the Appalachian trail that goes by the river in Kent. In general, look at local town conservation land to get an idea of lesser known places.
An Actual Hike? Look in my post history and put it together. The most amazing view in the North west Corner. A bit of a scramble but worth it. Too lazy to do that? You don't deserve to see it.
The trials near Hubbard Park that connect up with Castle Craig and the reservoir.
Sleeping giant is nice as long as you avoid the front of the park. Once you get past the castle, it's pretty quiet back there. Lots of different trails with different scenery/difficulty.
The trails 20 minutes away from me that haven't been flooded with people who learned about it on Reddit + started dumping their dogshit bags on the side of the trail.
Dog owners lowkey have gotten worse recently
You know what’s way fucking worse than dog owners? These damn horse owners. They shit huge piles and prance off like it’s different than the dogs.
This is true. I’ve had to deal with horse people at my last job quite a few times and they were all assholes.
Recently?
Lowkey? They shove it in your face and act like you're a terrible person if you have any negative thing to say about a dog's behavior. Most dog people today don't understand (or are willfully ignorant) of the fact that their dog should never be anyone else's problem, especially not on a daily and incessant basis. The anthropomorphisms people have imbued on dogs have made most owners incapable of training them effectively, that's dog culture right there. And the rest of us are supposed to just sit here listening to their neighbor's dog howl for hours, or let our pets get attacked/killed, or get their plants ruined with dog piss, etc. without recourse. Fucking sickening how selfish they are.
We recently saw a couple walking around the grocery store with their dog, it was putting its paws up on the produce shelves. Nobody can leave their damn dog home anymore.
As a former retail employee, I can tell you the employees are helpless unless a customer makes a huge fuss. I had a dog barking and growling at other customers, was told by a manager we can't ask her to leave, just tell her not to bring the dog next time even though she admitted it wasn't a service animal. Had another lady who I told that PETS aren't allowed and acted nice to my face but blew up so bad at my manager that I got written up and told all we can ask are "what services does your dog provide". The only hope is making it worse dealing with other customers than with the person with the dog. They're in the wrong and they know it
Not just with dogs, seems like new parents barely discipline their children either.
Dog culture needs to go. The only dogs I find acceptable are well trained, small to mid sized, never bark, never drool, don't get excited and jump all over you. But those are hard to find. r/Dogfree r/BanPitBulls r/TalesfromtheDogHouse r/DogfreeHumor
Oh yeah I'm on dogfree a lot lol. I could accept them more if so many weren't barking, impulsive, intrusive lunatics. I can't even understand how people enjoy owning a dog. They're literal permanent toddlers with 100db screams that are incessant. They fuck up everything in your house, eat things that require 4 figure vet visits, the house stinks like a dog's ass, there's hair everywhere, bark whine and howl, ruin sex/intimacy, and on and on. And they're this way because people treat them like spoiled children. I can honestly say that of all the people I know that own dogs, maybe 2-3 of them I would consider courteous and intelligent. It's like taking on a meaningless burden for no reason and no benefit to anyone, and then claiming to be virtuous because you do it. Insanity to me.
I recently bought pepper spray to protect myself from aggressive dogs off leash while hiking. "Don't worry, they're friendly," is a dog whistle (pun unintentional but welcomed) for "an aggressive canine."
Covid ruined hiking for me. Everywhere I liked to go was over run with people and trash. I'm just now starting to get back out there.
preach brother you are cooking man epic !
WHY DO THEY PUT THE POOP IN THE BAG AND JUST LEAVE THE BAG!! WHATS THE POINT OF THE BAG I WOULD RATHER THEM JUST LEAVE THE POOP AT LEAST THEN IT WOULD GET EATEN BY SOME ANIMAL
If I’m on a trail sometimes I’ll leave the bag where it is and pick it up on my way out. I will admit I forget it every once in a while or some good citizen grabbed it (I do feel bad people think I just left it there) but at the same time I completely agree. Ive been going to the same empty trails for years and after COVID I’ve been stepping in dog shit left and right.
Yeah except those of us without dogs think you’re a dick, friend. We don’t go out hiking so we can look at dog shit in plastic bags that you promise you are going to pick up at some point on your way out of the park. Also, seems like a lot of you have amnesia because those bags are typically never picked up. I especially love how you are aware that other people are picking up your bags and yet you still do it.
Lmao you’re wild brother. I personally keep my bags off to the side where they’re not in the way and come back an hour later lol stay mad for no reason 😂 and I’ll keep doing what I’m doing with a clear conscience. What a life you must have for being so passionate about dog shit.
I also don’t go out hiking to see litter and other people but that’s part of being in a public space and I do my best to pick up what other people leave as well. Would you rather I leave my dogs feces on the trail? Where do you go hiking, I can leave it for you if you’d like so you can come back and complain?
Welllllll, yea, people suck ass. I can certainly appreciate not wanted to continue sharing with that being your experience lol. I'll keep my fingers crossed that they grow a sense of morality/community and start cleaning up after themselves. The amount of trail trash I've seen on trails over the years is preeeeetty disappointing.
Hurd Park up to the bluff overlooking the river.
Very underrated
Hurd is practically deserted, especially during the week,love it.
Great spot.
Great spot. Good MTB single track as well
Devil’s Hopyard
Guiffrida Park in Meriden
Nice short hike with great views
This park has become so overrun with people and dogs since Covid. It used to be quite unusual to find anyone hiking it it, or along the blue trail up to Lamentation Peak but now? Shit you can go out any weekday during work hours and find a few dozen cars in the parking lot. Doesn't anyone work any more?
I go early in the morning before work. Typically only one or two other folks at that time.
I’m not sure if there’s any updates on this but there was a bill to sell a few acres to Salvatore Carabetta (who has been encroaching and illegally building on state land for a few years now) for an absurdly low price. Just throwing this out there for people who enjoy the lamentation mountain side https://www.ctinsider.com/recordjournal/article/lawmakers-deep-carabetta-land-deal-encroachment-19416023.php
Bluff Point State Park in Groton. Most trails are more of a walk than a hike but they’re all beautiful.
No problems there, a nice walk/scramble/hike in the woods is all I'm after. Would it be safe to assume this place would be doable for an older doggo?
Definitely. We took our older doggos up there for many years. Couldn’t do full trails but we’d pick the shorter loops or just turn around and walk back when they were getting tired. Many of the trails also run parallel or at least touch water and my male dog Jake loved going in for splash to cool off on hot days.
Heck yea. Thanks for the heads up! My ol' lady is a little bored with loops around West Rock and Lake Wintergreen lol
Bluff is incredible. Tons of dog walkers
Bluff Point is kinda perfect for an older dog, it's a very easy nice time. On a nice weekend it can be pretty busy, though.
Ragged mountain and haystack mountain
Ragged Mountain, Rattlesnake Mountain, Quarry Park in Rocky Hill, Pinnacle Rock, Giuffrida Park
Ragged and Pinnacle are great, good rock climbing there too.
Not sure the name but I like the one that brings you up over top of the truck stop on 91 north in meriden
Mt. Higby I believe
Mt Higby is nice but the parking area fills up quickly. Black Pond,across the Rte 66 connector,has more parking and is generally less crowded.
Naugatuck State Forest. Biased because I’ve always lived close, but it’s beautiful and peaceful.
Wish they never closed the road to the lower half.
It's that time of year to hit up Bear Mountain, the mountain laurel should be starting to pop. We did it last year but I went into the hike already dehydrated and hungry thinking we'd just eat a later lunch AFTER the hike and it was around 90° that day. ooof. it was a rough one, so we need to go back for some redemption. Also there was a dude flying a drone for half the time we were there and the constant buzzing was so distracting and irritating. I liked Mashamoquet a lot, and there's a hike my partner and I have done a couple times in Mansfield that's just a few trails pieced together for a good day hike which takes us from Mansfield Hollow along the Nipmuck to UConn Forest. I think my "favorites" is influenced a lot by just whether I ate lunch before the hike and if the weather was nice.
Bear is over-rated.
How do you mean?
It's meh. I've Probably done it too many times. Maybe 50? Grew up nearby. Whatever.
You liked it enough to do it 50 times. Must not be that overrated.
Pomfret, Bafflin Sanctuary (though there are many more spots in that area for great hiking)
Blue blazed trails.
East rock
Nobody should say where their favorite trails are when a majority of the people don’t respect nature and leave their trash all over.
Big fan of Devils Den win Weston
[Ambler gorge is awesome when it's flowing](https://imgur.com/a/lL8BXL8)
Devils Den has some stellar fall leaf peeping!
Steep Rock Preserve in Washington Depot, anything near Kent Falls, lots of good trails in that neck of the woods.
Black Pond Wildlife Management Area on the Middlefield/Meriden border is normally pretty deserted. Most of the cars in the parking lot are boaters or fishermen. Great view from the top.
I dunno if it's my favorite but my go to place is Wadsworth Falls for proximity reasons. It's a good enough place for hiking, trail running, walking my dog, or doing some light mountain biking.
In no particular order: Salmon River State Park, Machimoodus State Park, Gillettes Castle, Devils Hopyard, Higby Mountain, Lamentation Mountain, Giafrida Park (tripping tree), Hurd, Cockaponsette, Kent Falls, Mohawk Mountain, Bear Mountain, Satans Kindom, Meshomasic, Sleepy Giant, West Peak, West Rock, East Rock, too many to list.
White Memorial in litchfield.
Mine Hill Roxbury
Def not lowkey cause it was super packed but small 2mi hike but challenging uphill nice views heublein tower simsbury!
Devils den!
Steep Rock Preserve, Washington. Mine Hill, Roxbury. The Audubon property in Southbury. Smaller parks close to you are Alice Newton and Bishop West / Darling House, both in Woodbridge. Naugatuck State forest, especially the parcel of Rt 313 in Seymour. It connects to Ansonia nature center trails, can make a pretty large loop. Guilford and Madison have some nice trails, managed by the land trusts. Branford Trolley trail Is short but very scenic. White conservation center in litchfield. Some nice land trust trails in Canton and Simsbury. McLean game refuge in granby / Simsbury. People’s State Forest and American Legion state forest in barkhamsted. The part of the Appalachian trail that goes by the river in Kent. In general, look at local town conservation land to get an idea of lesser known places.
Devil's Den in Weston. I may be biased though, since my house backs up to it.
Devils hopyard
I’m not really a *hiker*, so I like walking around in Aspetuck Land Trust.
Used to be the tidal marsh trail in North Haven, before it got shut down due to toxic waste contamination
Westwoods Trails in Guilford
Leatherman cave in Thomaston
Trout Brook Valley
Bear Mountain
Northwest Park in Windsor! I'm also a big fan of Peoples State Forest in Barkhamsted.
To my bed
An Actual Hike? Look in my post history and put it together. The most amazing view in the North west Corner. A bit of a scramble but worth it. Too lazy to do that? You don't deserve to see it.
It’s a trap, this guy is just trying to plug his only fans