We just returned from a lovely fall foliage weekend in the Litchfield Hills, Connecticut. We’ve been making this an annual trip since moving to Connecticut 10 years ago. Once mid-October arrives here, there is no place I’d rather be. Peak color will hit the Litchfield region mid-October to late October. It just depends on the weather patterns. Usually my birthday week (the last week of October) is when the colors are prime around where I live in the Farmington River Valley and Wethersfield/Glastonbury region.
Here’s some of the autumnal beauty I captured during our visit, and some of the things we enjoyed this trip. You can see my full Fall Litchfield Hills Travel Guide for more ideas on places to visit, stay, dine, and shop.
We stayed at The Abner Hotel once again. We stayed here last year when they opened, and loved the location so much we decided to stay again. You can read my full article on The Abner Hotel in Litchfield for more info and photos of the property.
We arrived in the evening on a Friday after work. It’s less than hour away, so it doesn’t take us long to drive to Litchfield. We checked into our cozy Queen Suite, and had dinner that night at the hotel’s restaurant, The Courtroom. Everything was delicious and we enjoyed ordering a few dishes off their special Oktoberfest menu too.
The next morning we woke up early to enjoy a hike to the tower at nearby Mt. Tom State Park. This is a pretty easy mile hike that gets steeper and a little rockier once you get to the tower summit. The view is so worth it. It’s one of the prettiest overlooks in the region. Also, the pond at the base of the park is gorgeous too. The foliage reflections are stunning. I came back to photograph the pond on our way to Washington, since I didn’t bring my gear on the hike.
After our hike we had breakfast back at the hotel, and then took a leaf-peeping drive from Litchfield to Kent. Along the way we stopped at Angevine Farm in Warren to pick some carving pumpkins, and loved the views from the patch there.
The colors in Kent were just stunning, we took some backroads and ended our loop at Kent Falls State Park. We’ve hiked the trails here before with our kids, but this time we just took in the waterfalls, and had a bite in town for lunch at Swyft.
After lunch we enjoyed the views on our drive back and did a little shopping in downtown Litchfield. I love shopping at Hayseed and R. Derwin while we stay here. Also, we checked out a new shop, and I found so many great things there for our home. The Homestead Collective is a new home and gift shop with gardening gear, cooking gear, and housewares and decor.
We headed back to our room to freshen up for our dinner plans. This trip, we booked an evening dining at The Mayflower Inn. We’ve stayed here before, and I highly recommend it. A dinner here is always a treat. The grounds are just lovely, and after dinner you can enjoy a cocktail by the fire outside. As always, our experience was amazing and everything was delicious.
On Sunday, we had an early morning walk around town. There are so many gorgeous homes right outside the hotel and the town green is charming. We had breakfast and then packed up our Jeep for our little drive home. We grabbed coffee drinks at Espresso 59 on the way out of town.
On our way back to Wethersfield, we stopped at Hogan’s Cider Mill in Burlington for cider donuts to bring home, and to try their Instagram famous Mulled Cider Donut Sundae. So yummy!
It was another wondefrul fall foliage weekend trip in the Litchfield Hills. Now we are enjoying these last days of fall in our hometown and region. One more week before all the leaves start to fall, and then we roll right into November holidays.