Fall Foliage in the Quiet Corner of Connecticut

Today we’re going to look for fall foliage in the quiet corner of Connecticut also known as the Nutmeg State. The quiet corner is the Northeastern corner of the state that abuts Massachusetts and Rhode Island. For dates to explore, I usually start thinking about Connecticut around mid-late October and my more southern routes for fall foliage. One of these routes is the “Quiet Corner of Connecticut“. (Google it, the “Quiet Corner” is a thing)…

Don’t know where to start? Try my fall foliage primer on exploring and finding the fall colors…

One of those picture perfect scenic drives is Route 169. This can be a “short” drive, accomplished in a few hours, or a more leisurely “days” drive. I would suggest you start in Southbridge Massachusetts (near Old Sturbridge Village) and follow it south into Connecticut.

If you like, you can just follow it to the endpoint in Norwich Connecticut. It’s only a very short 47 miles but I’ve never driven it, in one complete scenic drive. I always get side-tracked and I mean always… 🙂

Today I’m going to start with Woodstock Connecticut which is just across the Massachusetts border in Connecticut. It’s just a little way down Route 169 that you will find the villages of Pomfret and Putnam Connecticut. No matter where you pick up 169 you will find little villages along the way to photograph the historic homes, churches, and farms against a backdrop of fall color.

Woodstock Connecticut

The full history can be found on the web and I’m just going to post one interesting property in Woodstock and on the National Register of Historic Places. The house is known as Roseland Cottage. It’s also known as the Henry C. Bowen House.

Henry C. Bowen was a businessman who grew up in the 1800s and who came to wealth and power. He and his family became one of the center points of the Abolitionist movements in Connecticut. It wasn’t open the day we came by, but I would love to explore this property.

Brooklyn Connecticut

At the intersection of Routes 6 and 169 you will find the town of Brooklyn and at this junction is the Unitarian church. It is a stately old church that started as a Meetinghouse and I have been there many times.

Generally, I’ve gotten there around 21-23 October but in 2013 I got there on 16 October and I was finding color was past or not yet started and in a few rare cases, I found a “perfect”, solitary tree showing peak fall color.

If you see my fall foliage reports showing autumn turning into a cool Sept and signs of early color, again I would arrive in CT around the 15th and see what you find. If not a bit later may be called for.

The Unitarian church is a tall example of a late 18th-century meeting house with a tall white steeple. The meeting house on the green was erected in 1771. Brooklyn was incorporated as a town shortly after the War of Independence in 1786.

I’ve photographed the church several times over the years but only in 2008 was I happy(ish) with the fall colors I found there. This day I had Boston Globe writer, Michael Blanding along with me to document what a day searching for fall foliage is like for Jeff Foliage. (What he wrote became an article in Yankee Magazine the following year, click here to read it.)

Mike and I walked around and when we got back to the truck he said that we should move on since so little color was here. I said quite to the contrary and showed him this shot on my camera screen (I love digital) and he said he never would have seen that view… 🙂

I was looking at Google maps in street view and today the street view is set for Sept 2013 and to see how early the color was and why when I got down there on the 22nd of Oct, why I didn’t see a lot.

One problem I have is that I’m always trying a new direction and I want to stay off the main roads.

Well, I just found that a little under 4 miles east on Route 6 would drop me in Danielson CT and there is a rail trail there.  The Quinebaug River Trail starts at the southern end of the Five Mile Pond which turns into the Five Mile River as it joins the Quinebaug River. You’ll see a link under the trail which will give you an idea of the 4-mile walk. If you wondering how I know about this then it’s time I let you in on a secret… Shhhh, don’t tell a soul! this is a secret…

TrailLink.com

This is an organization that fights for legislation towards keeping our rail trails and scenic routes funded. They have tons of maps and to see a map like the one where you will need to register (it’s free). The downside is that they will send you emails on what Capitol Hill is doing both for and against our scenic walking trails across the country and ask you to help them…so, its up to you if you think it’s worth the extra emails.

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