Details

Trail Length: 2.4 miles
Towns: Bolton, Vernon, Manchester
Allowed Uses: Hiking Only
Partners: Manchester Land Conservation Trust

Trail Overview

This loop trail’s rocky terrain and elevation changes make it a moderately difficult hike. Several spots, such as brook crossings and flat stretches, can be unusually wet and/or muddy following heavy rains. White-tailed deer (as many as six or seven at a time) frequent the trail, wild turkeys have been spotted behind the pond, and the quiet observer can sometimes hear the call of an owl. Mountain laurel along the ridge offers a showy display of flowers toward the end of June and, in the fall, the bright red leaves of the swamp maples are spectacular. Risley Park is owned by the Manchester Land Conservation Trust, Inc. It was donated in 1983 by Gladys R. Hall and Dorothy R. Miller in memory of their father, John S. Risley. The reservoir is a secondary source of water for the Manchester Water Company.

CFPA acknowledges we are on the traditional lands of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, the Mohegans, the Eastern Pequot, Schaghticoke, Golden Hill Paugussett, Nipmuc, and Niantic peoples. We pay our respect to the Indigenous people who are no longer here due to colonization, forced relocation, disease, and warfare. We thank them for stewarding this land throughout generations. We recognize the continued presence of Indigenous people on this territory who have survived attempted genocide, and who still hold ties to the land spiritually and culturally. We shall be good stewards of the land we all call Quinnentucket, Connecticut.