Monday, May 12, 2014

A Hidden Gem in Connecticut!


I hope everyone had a nice weekend. We had a beautiful day yesterday, though a bit warm for hiking. The plan was to visit two places and just walk around, but we ended up hiking up to a lookout, so I got a good workout.

We headed to East Haddam Ct., to visit Devil's Hopyard park. I was not disappointed, the area is beautiful. Plenty of parking, and wonderful trails that follow the river and more to explore.

Of course the first place I had to walk to was the falls. The recent rains had it cascading down the rocks with a roar and a fine mist cooling us off.


We headed to the top of the falls and crossed the bridge and headed along the trails that followed the river.


The path led to a covered bridge, a nice place to stop and relax.


I hadn't planned on a hike or climb, but the next sign post said, overlook and I just had to see what it was, lol. It was all climbing up hill so I took it easy and was treated to this spectacular view of the valley below.


I decided to take the river route, on the way back, nice and flat but a lot of areas were hard to climb over and more slippery, but it was easier and shorter, as well as having beautiful views of the river.


Our next stop was Gillette Castle on the Connecticut river. The Castle was built by William Gillette and  an amazing place to visit if you are in the area. It has free parking and access to the grounds and a fee if you want to go in the castle. It was not open, so we weren't able to get in.

Since it was late, we just walked around the castle. It is a place I would like to go back to and walk around the grounds which have miles of paths. Gillette was also a cat lover and I was hoping to find some of the stone cat sculptures but they are in areas we did not go to.

A view of the castle as we head up.


A view of the castle front, which faces the river. Gillette's bedroom is in the uppermost, left side of the castle.


A view of the Connecticut river from the picnic area in front of the castle. You can see the ferry crossing the river, one way to get to the other side. There was also a riverboat coming up the river which is a fun way to see the area.


And here is a closer look of the castle walls, can you imagine having to build this. There are a lot of unique features inside the house as well, the sun room has a pond in it, which we could see from the window. I would love to come back and go inside, take a ferry ride and go further up river to see the swing bridge and the old mill towns along the river.


16 comments:

Karen said...

Beautiful scenery. I can see why you enjoyed it.

Rebecca in AK said...

Looks like you had a wonderful hike. Very pretty waterfall! The Gillette Castle is very intriguing! I hope you can go back.

linda said...

So happy you enjoyed the area. U was born in Middletown and raised my family in East Hampton. We have wonderful memories of the Hopyard and the Castle.

Julie Fukuda said...

Looks like you took the best advantage of a beautiful time and place. Maybe I will have to put those places on my bucket list.

Chris said...

What a beautiful day out! So great seeing lovely CT pics. I miss New England!

moosecraft said...

Great day for a hike! The castle is gorgeous!

acorn hollow said...

So beautiful and a very nice couple of days to hike. I love that castle I would like to go there at some point in my life.
Cathy

Shirlee said...

What a beautiful place to walk! Makes me want to consider moving to Connecticut : )

Saundra said...

Wow, if you ever go back and get in the castle hope they allow photos as I'd love for you to share those. Thanks for the trip and tour.

Saundra

Robin in Virginia said...

What a walk down memory lane your pictures inspired! Enjoyed many childhood visits to both places. Thank you for sharing!

Robin in Virginia

Dawn said...

Beautiful! Need to add this to the bucket list of places to see.

Gail said...

I'm going to put it on my places to visit for this summer! Thanks for posting about this, Debbie.

Gail :)

Deb said...

What a wonderful day, those falls are lovely! Amazing castle and grounds, can't imagine living in something like that, it would be like living in a fairy tale!

Lori said...

It looks like a great outing! The waterfall hike is amazing!!

The Joy of Needlework said...

What a beautiful area, wish we had something like that around here. I can see why you like it.

Carole said...

Wow! What a lovely place! I sent the link to DH. Thanks for the visit!