Talcott Mountain State Park

A gorgeous trail that combines beautiful views from the surrounding cliffs with the historical Heublein Tower. The hike is not too difficult, but it is somewhat steep at the beginning and we saw one woman who had issues. After that though it levels off and is a relatively easy ascent.

What originally was supposed to be an easy hike to kick off the spring season ended up being a wet and muddy trek through the woods. The less than favorable weather however increased the challenge enough making the rather short hike more interesting. It was pouring rain and views off the cliffs were nonexistent because of this. However this left the mountain completely empty encouraging some of the shy wild life to creep from their hidings. The mountain denizens from orange colored lizard types, spotty amphibian types, stripey feathered types, and furry insect types all came out to play or feed on the beautiful new spring growth.
The Tower Trail takes you to Heulein Tower through rocky, dirt roads and alongside the cliff’s edge. You may or may not hear shotguns in the distance and with the mist completely obscuring the view of the valley below, you won’t know where they are coming from — duck! The Heulin Tower is an eerie site to see on a miserable looking day. The lack of other people and mist creeping alongside us made for great moody photos. Don’t forget to check out the old outdoor stove next to the picnic area and imagine what beasts were once cooked in there.
Talcott Mountain is a short 10 minute drive from West Hartford — a big piece of nature right in the town’s backyard. With various look out points along the cliff’s edge and relatively easy trails, I can imagine this to be a popular outing with the locals and especially families on a nice, clear day. It’s not the most challenging of hikes but allows for you to get a little lost (which we did) and explore small creeks and some rarely touched land. Although we veered off course for a good 30 minutes, the park is small enough to find your way back to the parking area… or rather end up in someone’s backyard.
— Limited parking alongside the entrance road
— Picnic areas are available at the Tower
— Total hike to Tower and back (including getting lost) = under 3 miles

Enjoyable hike with a nice goal at the end… Heublein Tower. There are kind of two stages to get to the tower. A moderately steep hike up the mountain up to the top of the ridge, and then you hike along the top to the tower. I recall it taking about 45 minutes to the tower, but I didn’t rush and stopped along the way to check out the really nice views (which are little sidetrack paths off the main trail).
The main trail itself is within a well-​forested area and I found myself using my phone to see how close I was getting to the tower because I kept feeling like I was just about there (I wasn’t).
This was my second hike of the day so I was pretty pooped on the way down. I heard one mother tell her kids, «It’s easier on the way down» and I wanted to shout, «Liar!!»

the walk up to the top is about 15 minutes and then about another 15 to the tower; take the dog up there once a week or so; the view from the top is very nice and best viewed near sunset or sunrise; the view is more or less due west– during a wet spring the path up can be very muddy and wet so wear the appropriate footwear; also, during rainy season the river floods the valley and this gives a twist to the view

This is a wonderful trail. Very popular. We saw lots of people and dogs along the way. The views are worth the effort of getting up the summit. Once there it is about half way to the tower. I have been back again and plan to attend Toot weekend on Oct 17 and 18^th.

Driving one day, my husband and I saw the Heublein Tower from afar… we did a little searching and found out that there is a hiking trail which leads to such tower. We hiked the trail today and had such a great time. The beginning is somewhat steep… but completely doable, put it this way we passed countless parents backpacking their toddlers and one 80 something grandmother on the hike… sadly I was somewhat winded but I suspect most aren’t.
There are a few stops along the way with picturesque views of the surrounding towns and the Heublein tower offers excellent views from the observatory room (very cool but very hot). The estimated time to complete the hike was listed at 2.5 hours… we did it in one with a few stops to enjoy the views and creatures found along the way. We plan on going back in the fall…