Hiking Osbornedale Park in Connecticut
This was another really fun adventure at Osbornedale State Park in Connecticut. There are tons of different types of terrain here to explore and adventure through!
For the trail map –> Osbornedale State Park Trail Map <–
EASTERN PORTION OF PARK
The first part of our hike through the state park was mostly focused on the eastern portion of the park. We started at the very first parking lot we came across near the entrance of the park (the rest of the roads looked like they were closed during the winter).
PICKETT’S POND
The first landmark we really came across was Pickett’s Pond right by the entrance. It was a beautiful pond surrounded with geese and ducks even with all the snow still on the ground. I guess they are as ready for spring as we are.
After taking a stroll around the pond for a bit, we headed over the nearby hill to start our first trail, the red trail. The red trail is a loop that goes around the outside edge of MOST of the entire park. There are a few side trails that go beyond that, as we will show you with the blue trail later on.
GOOD WORKOUT ON RED TRAIL
The red trail is pretty fun because it really takes you over all the different types of landscapes this park has to offer. We first started hiking through a fairly narrow trail with a bunch of thorn bushes. Then that opened up to a wide open area where I imagine would be a great place to throw a disc around…assuming you aren’t visiting in the winter time.
The open area also had some pretty nice scenic views of the surrounding urban area. I would still prefer less houses myself, but still a beautiful view of the hillsides in the distance.
BEAUTIFUL OPEN FIELDS
A little bit further north on the red trail, we saw some more open fields where luckily many people had hiked before us. There were very few times we had to look at a map because everyone traced the trail out for us in the snow before we even got to the park. Thanks everyone!
RUINS
After fighting the slightly blustery wind through the wide open areas (some which had some neat views) we made our way past these ruins (shown above). Obviously it was a house of some kind at one point, but honestly don’t know anything about the history behind it.
WETLANDS
Swinging our way around the north end of the park, we started heading back south on the red trail loop towards some creeks and some wetlands. Mostly frozen wetlands, but you’ll see here in a bit.
Part II of our little video “mini-series” took us around the water features, down the blue trail, part of the yellow trail, and finished us up on the red loop.
MISADVENTURE THROUGH THORN BUSHES…
From the photos above (my lovely wife Deanna took all of these), we hiked to some beautiful bubbling creeks and then made our way through some thorn bushes.
Ok, well I made my way through some thorn bushes while Deanna hiked around. She claims that was a wiser choice. Eventually though we made it out to some more open fields overlooking a couple more ponds and the hill we just came down from.
HOUSATONIC RIVER
We then made our way past the nature center (another parking lot you could start at) and hopped on the blue trail with hopes of coming across the Housatonic River.
As you can see from the photos above, we did reach the Housatonic River, just not quite as open views as were hoping for haha. It was still a fun little adventure though as we hiked off trail a bit to try to find the best view possible.
BLUE TRAIL AND SUMMARY
After hiking the very short blue trail, we made our way back to the ponds we saw earlier. It was a very beautiful day for a stroll through this park as I’m pretty sure the geese/ducks agreed with me. After the ponds, we made our way back up the hill and through some more tight sections of trail/thorn bushes (dang those thorn bushes) back to the main parking lot.
Overall I’d say this park is fairly easy, but there are sections of the hike that can be moderate to difficult depending on how good of shape you are in. It definitely got my heart going on some of the steep climbs, but luckily they don’t take too long to climb up.
Considering we didn’t know much about this park before we arrived, I’d say we were pretty happy with the visit. Maybe some day we will come back and check out the yellow trail to venture off to see more water features.
NOTE FROM WRITER
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Adventure On!
