#9 Topsmead State Forest

One of our favorite places to go for a walk is Topsmead, a 510 acre state forest in Litchfield. While there are numerous walking trails, a butterfly garden, and places to watch a variety of wildlife, the main attraction is an English Tudor style  summer home  that was built in the 1920’s.  Edith Chase’s father, who ran the Chase Brass and Copper company in nearby Waterbury, gave  her 16 acres of land  in 1917, and over the years, Edith built the cottage and gardens, established a working farm,  and bought an additional 500 acres of surrounding land. When Edith died in 1972, she left the property to the state to be used as a state forest. Today, the cottage, including its contents and gardens are pretty much what they were when Edith lived there and you can tour the cottage twice a month when it is open to the public. 

Connecticut has a number of state forests and parks and Topsmead is just one of many in the area which are fun to visit. 

Interesting  fact: in the early 1900s, Waterbury, CT was the brass capital of the world. 







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