Penwood State Park

Situated across the street from Talcott Mountain State Park, Penwood is a great spot to spend some time outside. You’ve got access to the Metacomet Trail in addition to the park’s own trails. I ended up here on New Year’s day in the hopes of finding a plowed parking area. I was not disappointed. When you own a family sedan, yet enjoy snowshoeing, it gets a little tough getting access to trailheads.
The yellow trail gives you a nice walk along the ridgeline, while the Metacomet will take you deep into the park. There, you’ll find a stone staircase (probably an old CCC project), a waterfall, odd machinery in the middle of nowhere, and the smallest body of water anybody has ever called a lake.
I didn’t remember Penwood being all that busy in the past, but it was mobbed on New Year’s Day. Typically, you will see people, but it usually isn’t a crazy amount. It’s worth checking out. There isn’t much elevation change, so all the hiking is fairly easy. Still, there are great views and a little bit of solitude.

We did a fairly quick hike at Penwood, on a trail that never strayed too far from nearby backyards. It wasn’t the most scenic trail, partially for that reason, but to be fair there are a number of other trails at Penwood we haven’t tried. The covered picnic area and fields are nice, and parking is easy and free.

Penwood is easy to get to as it is right off 185 and is close to home. Folks run and ride on the paths. We usually do the yellow ridge and continue on to the light blue to make a loop. The cedar ridge outlook has basically the same view as from the ridge in Tallcott across the street.
The dark blue is the most challenging of the three main paths. The peak is «the pinnacle» with some Interesting rocks on the way up and wildflowers in the spring and views to the east and west.
There is an open area of many acres and has picnic tables, bathrooms, a picnic shelter and all that and is quite nice and is on the light blue-​Metacomet path about a mile from the entrance.
Beyond the junction of the light blue/​blue/​yellow paths the park continues and changes quite a bit.
If you are sensitive to poison ivy then keep your eyes open as there is a lot of it in Penwood, especially where the sun shines on the edges of the woods.
Also, the pond (Gale Pond) that you see from 185 is not part of the park.