Enjoy an invigorating hike from Simsbury to Bloomfield co-sponsored by the Wintonbury and Simsbury Land Trusts and Bloomfield Leisure Services. Along with the scenery, the free hike will showcase WLT and SLT properties that provide town-to-town trail connectivity linking through Penwood State Park.
For the approximately 5.5-mile hike, we’ll meet at 9:00 a.m. at the hike’s end point: the historic 1834 Oliver Filley House in Bloomfield’s LaSalette Park. Bloomfield Leisure Services will provide a bus to shuttle hikers to the starting point, the Flower Bridge in Simsbury.
From there, we’ll ascend to Penwood via SLT’s Owen Mortimer parcel and their gorgeous Tanager Hill property. We’ll take a rest stop in Penwood, visiting Lake Louise and The Pinnacle.
Then we’ll descend into Bloomfield by way of WLT’s Stout Family Fields and Hawk Hill Farm, home to distinctive Highland cattle, arriving back at LaSalette Park with (hopefully) some stunning views of Hartford.
Bring the family out to the 4-H Educational Center at Auerfarm on a nice fall day. Enjoy entertainment, games, hayrides, food and local 4-H groups displaying their work. Take a walk through their corn maze.
The entire family is sure to have fun engaging in one of the following activities: vegetable garden competition, hay rides, scarecrow contest, hay play, apple cider demonstrations, skillet toss (women only), face painting, flower garden competition, tag sale, baking competition, bounce house, pumpkin painting, cow chip contest, mason jar fun raiser, all day entertain and food, food, and more food.
Free admission. Bring cash for tickets for food, games, and other activities.
Hawk Hill Farm by Dennis Hubbs
Wintonbury Land Trust will host an informal discussion and tour of Hawk Hill Farm for State legislators, community leaders, and other land trusts in the greater Hartford area on Tuesday, July 17. The event is sponsored by the Connecticut Land Conservation Council to celebrate projects that received funding from DEEP’s Open Space & Watershed Land Acquisition (OSWA) grant program and the Community Investment Act.
The Land Trust’s acquisition of Hawk Hill Farm and improvements at the Town’s adjacent LaSalette Park were made possible in part by these and other State funds. So please invite your State legislators to join us in recognition of their continued support for these funding programs.
We look forward to an informal conversation with legislators, neighboring land trusts, and others about your local, regional, and statewide land conservation priorities. We’ll also take a short walk into Hawk Hill Farm to meet the Scottish Highland cattle and enjoy the view of the Hartford skyline. The event is from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., and heavy rain cancels. Hawk Hill Farm is located at 22 Duncaster Road in Bloomfield.
RSVP to communications@wintonburylandtrust.org. You also may follow this event on Facebook.
Join us at picturesque Auerfarm for our annual meeting, refreshments, and presentation. Felicia Ortner, a Connecticut Master Wildlife Conservationist (MWC) and bear enthusiast, will provide education and facts about black bears and help dispel myths and common misunderstandings in her talk, “The Bear Reality.”
Members and the public are welcome to attend either or both parts of this evening. We extend a special invitation to families to bring your kids so they may learn more about the bears we see so frequently in our backyards.
There will be a short business meeting at 6:00 followed by light refreshments at 7:00.
“The Bear Reality” presentation will begin promptly at 7:30. We encourage you to arrive early enough to park and be seated by 7:30.