A few days ago, after I got most of my real estate appointments set up for a couple of days, I thought it would be a great idea to spend an afternoon taking a hike in Danbury's Tarrywile Park. It's a great spot to enjoy nature in all of it's glory with over 700 acres and over 21 miles to trails.

With my camera in hand and sunglasses on, I took a short drive over to the Southern Boulevard entrance, a short trip from anywhere in Danbury. The city of Danbury purchased the land about 25 years ago from a developer that was hoping to create a community similar to Heritage Village in Southbury and has continued to acquire land over the years, making it today larger than Central Park in New York City.

With a terrain varying from large open meadows to dense forested hills as well as a couple of ponds, you can enjoy Tarrywille Park for years on end and still discover new parts and see different types of foilage and fauna. The park helps create that semi rural feel of the Long Ridge and Brushy Hill neighborhood with those two roads running just on the outside parts of the park borders.

The Ives Trail is currently under construction and once completed in a couple of years, it will be possible connect from the Rogers Park through Tarrywile all the way over to Ridgefield (across Route 7) and into the parks over there, Wooster Mountain, Bennett's Pond State Park, Hemlock Hills and Pine Mountain for a whole day's hike through the wilderness of Northern Fairfield County. There are typically guided hiked through Tarrywile on Saturday mornings around this time of the time. In the fall, the park plays hosts to several high school cross country meets, since it is the home course for the Danbury High School and Immaculate High School teams. Tarrywile also has an abandoned castle, the Hearthstone castle, located at Brushy Hill side of the part and the city and various community organizations are working on a plan to restore and repurpose the castle in a way that will fit the neighborhood and the park.

A short walk from the main entrance gets you go Parks Pond. I usually see a wide mix of people reading books, picinicing, walking their dogs or fishing in the pond, but Tarrywile was surprising quiet that day. The pond is pretty low because it has not not rained in a few days. For a nice stroll, bear right here and take a quick left over a little uphill onto the white trail. The hiking trail, about one mile in length, gives a complete view on Parks Pond without steep hills to worry about.

For a more rustic experience or if you are looking for a longer hike, explore the area beyond the water tank up the hillside of the south and southwestern region of the park In that area, you can proceed up to the Mootry Peak Lookout which offers great views of Danbury. You can see Danbury City Hall, the Danbury Hospital, the Riverview Office Complex, the Danbury Fair Mall, Westville Commons, Kensington Woods as well as other area landmarks and the surrounding hillside. On clear days, I have even seen Lake Kenosia and Candlewood Lake. At many times, I felt like I was in Vermont opposed to just minutes south of downtown Danbury and close to many large cities.

Please take a moment to look at the visual tours I have prepared on Tarrywile Park: 

For more information on Tarrywile Park, please visit their website.