Stony Brooke Park

North Side – There is a nice moderately maintained loop hike in the northern section of the park starting from the parking area and heading into the forested trail which follows Muddy Brook for the majority loops back along Stony Brook and then not too far from private property for about 1.5 miles round trip. The backside of the loop (nearest the south side) can be a bit overgrown in summer, but the rest of the trails are wide and well maintained.

South Side – Walking through the large field off the parking area leads past the overgrown remains of the an footbridge taken originally from Remington Street which will be used in the near future as a permanent bridge over the brook to connect both sides of the park.  Currently there is a very short path along the brook leading up to the a stretch of railroad track abandoned since 2009.  The railroad bridge over the brook is slowly collapsing but can be crossed to extend the walk just a tad.

This 70-acre park was given to the town by Charles S. Bissell in 1968 for conservation purposes. The odd spelling of Brooke is due to an old deed of the property with the antiquated or possible misspelling.

From the Courant in 1968 about the donation:

“The conservation commission has the responsibility of developing the land to be used for conservation and preservation and propagation of wildlife,” the article read. “The parcel includes a brook as well as wooded area and should lend itself well to these purposes … possibilities proposed were nature trails and horseback riding trails. Cleaning up the brook for fishing is important.”

The railroad line is a roughly 3 mile spur coming from Windsor Locks originally built in 1870s by the independent railroad called the Windsor Locks and Suffield Railroad and its train was affectionately known as “The Huckleberry”. The line was then sold to the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad which offered as many as six trips a day on the Suffield line. This diminished as the years went by and with the last trolley service to Suffield ending in the 1920s.  The line is currently owned by Connecticut Southern Railroad and made freight delivieries on the line most recently going to the Stevenson Lumberyard, which closed in 2008.  Connecticut Southern sought official abandonment of the line in 2012 but the town was attempting to fight it – given that the tracks are still there it appears the town won.

CTMQ – Stony Brooke Park (2017)

Peter Marteka – As Third Choice, Suffield’s Stony Brook Park A Fun Romp (2016)