The quiet corner of Connecticut is a special place. Laura and I were situated about an hour away from it while we lived just outside Hartford between the years of 2008 and 2013. We visited often; sometimes for the antique stores in Putnam, sometimes to grab a bite at one of the local restaurants, and sometimes to drive around and eventually do some hiking. After spending so much time in and around Pomfret, I think I discovered why people refer to it and the surrounding area as the “quiet corner.” Most likely because it’s very quiet. There aren’t many folks who live there and there isn’t much road traffic. It’s actually a great place to use as a getaway. During one visit, I remember seeing some bikers on motorcycles ride by. I can only assume they chose the roads they were riding upon because of the very same attributes I described above.
In this post, I mostly show off some photos of one of Pomfret’s best kept secrets, Mashamoquet Brook State Park. I also give a short backstory that tells how we ended up at the park in the first place. That’s not really too important though if you’re searching to see what this slice of nature looks like. Before you browse the photos below though, I think it’d be beneficial for you to learn a bit about the park itself.
Mashamoquet Brook State Park is actually the overarching name for three distinct areas; Mashamoquet Brook, Wolf Den, and Saptree Run. It’s three parks in one. The land is host to quite a few features; open space in which to play, walk, or explore, hiking trails on which to take in the scenery, the Mashamoquet Brook itself, which is a lot of fun to walk around and get wet in (or to simply take in the beauty), and a small lake, which may or may not be full, depending on when you visit. There are also two campgrounds available, so if you enjoy camping, you might want to look into them. They’re called The Mashamoquet Brook Campground and Wolf Den Campground. The former offers 18 fully wooded campsites and the latter offers 35 semi-wooded campsites. Both are very nice and are easily viewed on Google Earth, if you’d like to see what they look like before committing to a trip.
As far as state parks go, I’m not sure whether this one is large or not. I will tell you that it covers 900 acres, so that should definitely be enough space for you to enjoy. The hiking is why we stopped but, but I’d certainly return for some camping and fishing. It’s a beautiful piece of property that I think would please even the most discerning guest.
Directions to Mashamoquet Brook State Park
I’ll tell you how to get to this park from a starting point of the center of Pomfret. This would be the intersection of Route 169/44 and Route 97, which turns into Route 44. Basically, this is the intersection where the Vanilla Bean Cafe is located.
- Drive south in Route 44 for 2.14 miles until you see the opportunity to make a right. The road is still Route 44, but you definitely need to make a turn.
- Continue southwest for .49 miles on Route 44 until you come to the end of that section of road. Make another right.
- Drive west on Route 44 for .9 miles. You’ll see the entrance to the primary section of park on your left.
- The entrance to the Mashamoquet Brook Campground is .29 miles past this entrance. The Wolf Den Campground is located through the primary entrance.
Well, I guess it’s time to talk about Laura’s and my visit. This is a continuation of another post I wrote a long time ago.
Since we weren’t able to eat lunch or dinner at the Sharpe Hill Vineyard, we decided to head out towards the Harvest Restaurant (now called Grill 37) in Pomfret, CT. Laura and I had eaten there before and found it very nice.
On our way to the restaurant, we passed a little sign that said something like “State Park Campgrounds.” My parents have a long history of camping, so they really wanted to pull in to see what was going on. I was driving down a kind of busy road, so when we saw the next sign that said, “Mashamoquet Brook State Park Entrance,” they were only too happy to make the turn. I am glad we did, because we discovered a neat new state park with an awesome trail system. There are rivers and lakes and trails all over the place. We have to add this park on our growing list of great Connecticut state parks to hike in.
Mashamoquet Brook State Park in Pomfret, CT
I took some photos for you to browse through.
Great post. I’ve been to this park. I usually go to the Sharpe Hill Vineyard for dinner with the family and then swing over to Mashamoquet to lounge around. The kids enjoy the river and lake. I used to eat at the Harvest Restaurant, but that’s changed hands and is now called Grill 37. Decent place . Thanks for the pics.