Try Out Snowshoes Or Hike, Track

The Connecticut Forest and Parks Association in Rockfall is hosting Winter Trail Days on Saturday, Jan. 7 with snowshoeing clinics and guided hikes.

Tracks and Signs Interpretive Walk at the Goodwin Forest Conservation Education Center is another outing also on Saturday, Jan. 7, 10 a.m. to noon.

Learn how to read the signs of winter-active wildlife. Even without snow, many tell-tale clues should be available.

Adults and children 10 and older welcome; dress for cold weather.

Pre-registration is requested but not required. Call (860) 455-9534.

The Goodwin Forest Conservation Education Center and the Goodwin State Forest include 2,000 acres of forests and habitats, 14 miles of hiking and multi-purpose trails, three large ponds and a nature museum all managed jointly by the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection and The Connecticut Forest & Park Association, Inc.

Hike, Eat, See at Higganum Farm Market

Emily Brooks, chef and author, will meet and greet and sign her book Connecticut Farmer & Feast on Friday, June 17 at the Higganum Village Farmers’ Market. The book published by Globe Pequot Press features 40 farmers and producers and the items they produce from fruits and vegetables to meats, cheeses, and other food items at farm stands, farm markets, and top restaurants.

Or just take a walk with Higganum Vision Group’s Hiking Club, stepping off at 6:30 p.m. Meet in the parking lot in front of Haddam Elementary School for exploring the trail behind the school. Bring along bug spray, water, comfortable shoes and a working whistle. Free.

For more information visit www.higganumvillagefarmersmarket.org or stop by the town green this Friday, rain or shine.

Water Reservoir And Reflected Beauty Park

Giuffrida Park offers plenty of hiking and restful beauty. The park in Meriden includes a stone-dammed reservoir built by the Bradley and Hubbard Manufacturing Company for use in the 1800s, when the city was a hub for manufacturing.

International Silver acquired the property as a source of water needed for its manufacturing processes. Time passed, International Silver moved, then became virtually extinct.

Eventually, the property was offered for sale and the Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P) purchased it and installed high voltage lines required for energy transmission and growth in the nearby Westfield section of Middletown and Connecticut.

The remainder of the land was purchased by the city under the open spaces program. Today it is a park that offers trails that wind through woods, old fields, around Crescent Lake (that's the water body created by the dam), and up to the peak of a mountain (a very steep climb) known as Chauncey Peak (shown above, right.)

The rocky summit is part of the Metacomet Ridge that extends from Long Island Sound near New Haven (Connecticut) north through the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts to the Vermont border.