Burr Pond State Park

Burr Pond State Park

Connecticut State Park

438 acres in Torrington, CT

Parking: Small lot near 384 Burr Mountain Rd, Torrington, CT

Trail Map           Trails: 3 miles       Rating: ★★★☆☆

I have just barely explored Burr Pond State Park.  I hiked in from the south on the John Muir Trail coming from Sunnybrook State Park through the Paugnut State Forest.  It was the first snow storm of the year and while I had intended to hike around the full loop around the pond, conditions were pretty clear that I should cut it short.  So I’ve only hiked the back of the pond loop from the blue/white trail to the John Muir Trail.

Hiking:

Blue – Walcott Trail – 2.7 miles

• Maybe it was just the snow but the hiking was way more rugged than I was expecting.  The rocky backside of the loop is steeper and more technical where I was expecting a flat walk along the waters edge (though I expect that’s true on the north side of the pond).
• I first passed the glacial erratic lovingly renamed Boulder Over Burr or BOB for short and just past it on the very short spur trail is a rocky knob with half a view of the pond.  Even on the snowy morning the Walcott Trail was well traveled so this must be a popular hike.
• There were two good views of the water along this south side before I reached the John Muir Trail again.

Also Blue – John Muir Trail – 2.69 miles

• Only 0.14 miles of this trail technically fall within the park’s borders, but if you’re looking for a rugged, beautiful, and remote feeling hike this one is for you.  The trail heads south from here crossing a few old forest roads for just over 2.5 miles until reaching Sunnybrook State Park.
• Many stretches are infrequently traveled and while it is pretty well blazed there were a handful of spots where I had to backtrack to the last blaze I saw and scan the area to find where it turned from obvious path.
• Between the John Muir Trail and my loops at Sunnybrook and Burr Pond I put together a 8 mile hike (the full hike around Burr Pond would probably be over 10).

Blue/White Trails

• There are two of these trails
  • One on the north side from the parking area to picnic areas along the water called the Jenkins Trail
  • And one on the south side as a connector to the John Muir Trail

Blue/Yellow Trails

• There are also two of these both on the south side of the pond
  • One is the 0.15 mile Peninsula Trail which is a quick out and back to a view of the pond
  • The other is just 200′ or so to the Boulder Over Burr and a rocky lookout of the pond

There are a number of forest roads that criss cross the southern part of the park but trail maps are posted at a number of the junctions pointing out where you are should it be confusing.

History:

Established as a state park in 1949. This park was featured in the 2016 Sky’s the Limit Hiking Challenge.

Links:

CTMQ – TSTL’16.3: Burr Pond State Park (2016)

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Last updated December 11th, 2022