2017 Hikes #4 & #5: Dennis Hill State Park & Billings Trail - Norfolk, CT

Date Hiked: Sunday, January 15, 2017
Estimated distance:  3.11 miles (Dennis Hill SP) + 1.06 miles (Billings Trail) = 4.17 miles
Weather: 37°F, clear skies
Resources: Dennis Hill State Park, Trail Map, Norfolk Land Trust, Trail Map (see Billings Trail, Tait Section)
Highlights of the trip:  beautiful views from the top of Dennis Hill
Progress toward 2017 Outdoor Goals:  5/52 hikes; 15.24/250 miles hiked


It was a beautiful, sunny day.  Perfect for a mid-winter hike.  My hiking partner, her geocaching husband, and I decided to head to Norfolk to Dennis Hill State Park and then maybe on to one of the Norfolk Land Trust properties where he needed to nab a few more caches.

(Distance really 3.11 miles.  The line between green and red dots was us driving down the road.  Oops.)

I had been to Dennis Hill several years ago with the homeschool group I hiked with and what I remembered were the beautiful views and the impressive stone building at the top of the hill.

At this time of year, the gate is closed, but there is room for several cars outside the gate.  We climbed up the road, past the picnic area and then left the road and went on to the yellow trail toward the picnic pavilion.  The picnic pavilion is a nice little spot with beautiful views to the east.  There is a fire pit area next to the pavilion and an old chimney in the woods.

Picnic pavilion.

 We completed the yellow loop, retraced our steps along the yellow trail and picked up the white trail (almost missed it) which connected us to the park road farther up the hill.  We walked up the road to the large stone pavilion.  This building is pretty impressive and has commanding views to the south.  (There is also an outhouse nearby that was open and in pretty good shape.)

Pavilion at the top of Dennis Hill.

Inside the pavilion.  There are some picnic tables in here, too.

View to the south from inside the pavilion.

We took the park road down to our car.  On the way down the hill, there is an area with views to the east where you can see some of the wind turbines.

There is a wind turbine in the middle of the picture, just to the right of the tree.  Another turbine is hidden behind the branches of the tree.

From Dennis Hill State Park, we drove north on Route 272 a short distance and then turned right onto Winchester Road.  We parked along the side of the road to access the western end of the Billings Trail.  Our geocacher had already found the caches at the other end of the trail off of Grantville Road, so we just had a short out and back here.

Part of the trail runs along the Mad River and eventually we came to an old stone bridge with a stone bench.  A nice spot for viewing the wetland.  We turned around here and headed back to the car.

These were two relatively short, but enjoyable hikes.  I think Dennis Hill in the fall would be spectacular.  You could do a much longer hike in the Norfolk Land Trust property by parking on Grantville Road and taking the Billings Trail in and then connecting with the trails on Pine Mountain.  Something for another day.