Hikers in Talcott Mountain State Park outside Hartford find the Heublein Tower at the top.
September 23, 2021
Natural Abundance
STEVEN LASCHEVER PHOTOGRAPHY
Mill Pond Park offers a peaceful retreat in the Hartford suburb of Newington.
By Paula Wolf
In and around Hartford, parks and green space are within easy reach
Inhabiting a city of nearly 125,000 people, in a state that’s among the most densely populated in the country, residents of Hartford know all about urban living.
But their experience also includes access to numerous parks and recreation areas, some along the Connecticut River waterfront and many dating all the way back to the 19th century, including one designed by famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.
Many of Connecticut’s 139 state parks and forests are also a short trip away.
Hartford’s riverfront parks, according to the city’s Parks and Recreation webpage, are Charter Oak Landing, which features a couple of nesting eagles; Great River Park, with a 350-seat amphitheater and a public boat launch; Victorian-era Riverside Park, home to the Greater Hartford Jaycees Community Boathouse and miles of unpaved trails through floodplain forest; and Mortensen Riverfront Plaza, centerpiece of the Riverfront Recapture park system.
The other city parks also offer a relaxing respite from the daily grind, often adding history to the mix.
- Downtown Hartford’s Bushnell Park, dating from 1854, includes an antique carousel and such monuments as the Corning Fountain. It’s also the site of the Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz and the Hartford Marathon.
- Colt Park, which covers 114 acres, was established in 1905 from the former Armsmear estate of Samuel Colt and Elizabeth Jarvis Colt. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it has playscapes, a swimming pool and splash pads, sports fields and Dillon Stadium.
- Elizabeth Park, opened in 1897, is the “horticultural gem of the Hartford park system, with its many gardens, sweeping vistas, notable trees and greenhouses,” the Parks and Recreation webpage explained. It’s also home to the first public rose garden in the U.S. and is on the National Register.
- Designed by Olmsted, the father of American landscape architecture, 237-acre Goodwin Park is in the south end of Hartford and extends into Wethersfield.
- Hyland and Rocky Ridge Parks, which include lots of playing fields, were opened for public use in 1911.
- One of the largest public parks in New England, Keney Park is almost 694 acres and dates from 1896. It was designed as a series of typical regional landscapes, with meadows and forests, and features Keney Park Golf Course, rated by Golfweek Magazine as the second best public golf course in Connecticut.
- Pope Park, donated to the City of Hartford by industrialist Col. Albert Pope, was designed by Olmsted Bros. Landscape Architects in 1898. It’s 79 acres, with two athletic fields, a recreation center, a pond and basketball courts.
- Sigourney Square, dating from 1895, is listed on the National Register as a historic district. A square block, it was originally part of the old Town Farm area, a burial ground of 49 smallpox victims interred in 1872.
STEVEN LASCHEVER PHOTOGRAPHY
Riverside Park on the edge of downtown Hartford offers convenient recreational opportunities on the Connecticut River.
Choices are plentiful beyond the city limits as well. Will Healey, a spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said he is proud to say that every state resident is within 15 minutes of at least one state park or forest. “Access is very, very good.”
“Here in Connecticut,” Healey said, “we are fortunate to have tremendous outdoor resources.”
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