The best family-friendly hikes and walks in Brimfield State Forest

A nice open-air museum where you can learn about the life of the settlers around 1830.

The Crowd Homestead Site, which has been part of the Tantiusques reservation since 2002, holds the remains of a house and barn once owned by Robert Crowd, who worked in a nearby 1850s mine of mixed African American and Native American ancestry. Originally built in 1815 by John Davis and Rhoda Vinton, the house was later bought by Robert Crowd in 1842 but saw few improvements. The site is significant as it offers insights into the living conditions of the time. Artifacts found there include raw graphite, black glass buttons, brass jewelry fragments, and ceramic shards, shedding light on the historical lifestyle of the inhabitants. Today you can see the remains of the two building foundations - a deep cellar hole where the house stood, and shallower one for the barn - and a capped well. There is an unmaintained, but well-traveled, trail that connects this historic site to the main Leadmine Loop around Tantiusques.

Tantiusques (tan-te-us-quays), derived from the Nipmuc word meaning “to a black deposit between two hills,” was the location of one of New England's earliest mines. The Nipmuc tribe initially mined graphite at this site for ceremonial paints, and in 1644, John Winthrop, Jr. acquired the mine with plans to extract lead and iron. Frederick Tudor, renowned for selling New England ice globally, shipped approximately 30 tons of graphite annually to Boston between 1829 and 1860. Captain Joseph Dixon, who collaborated with Tudor, eventually pioneered the first wood and graphite pencil in the United States, founding the Dixon-Ticonderoga Company. Mining activities at Tantiusques ceased by 1910, and while the forest has since reclaimed the area, remnants of the mine, including cuts, ditches, tailings piles, and mine shafts (the most prominent of which is gated and just a few yards down the trail from the main parking lot), are still visible. In 1983, the Sturbridge Historical Commission's efforts led to Tantiusques being listed on the National Register of Historic Places. There is a short, easy loop trail that takes you around the site (https://thetrustees.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/tantiusques-trail-map.pdf). This is a unique place to explore close to downtown Strubridge, and a must-visit for any history lover.

Breakneck Brook Wildlife Management Area is a small protected wildlife area just north of the border between Massachusetts and Connecticut. Named for Breakneck Brook, which flows through the center of this property, there is an abundance of different plants and animals for you to see along the trails through white pine and mixed hardwood forest, rolling hills, open meadows, and wetlands. There are two small beaver ponds with impressive dams near the western border of the area. You also might see other animals like Painted Turtles and Eastern (Red Spotted) Newts along the trails near the wetlands and ponds.

The Cat Rocks are a series of small hills and ridges right on the Connecticut side of the Massachusetts-Connecticut state border. As you hike along Cat Rocks Road, you get ocassional views through the trees over the Nipmuck Forest and of Breakneck Pond, a long, shallow body or freshwater just east of Cat Rocks.

Breakneck Pond large 92-acre, shallow lake in Union, Connecticut. The far northern tip, however, is in Sturbridge Massachusetts. The lake is undeveloped with only hiking and a few campsites around its shore and motorized vehicles and boats are prohibited, making for a very peaceful and scenic spot.

The Grand Trunk Trail is a paved trail next to the Quinebaug River right across the road from Old Sturbridge Village. Because it is crisscrossed by the Riverback Trail, you can combine the two to make a nice loop if you want to add a little extra milage after exploring Old Sturbridge Village, or if you just want a gentle walk near the river. The town of Sturbridge put together this trail map for this small, but pretty, area near Old Sturbridge Village: http://www.sturbridgetrails.org/riverlands.html

Old Sturbridge Village is a living museum nestled in the heart of Sturbridge, Massachusetts. The Museum and Visitor Center is the perfect place to stop before entering Old Sturbridge Village itself, which has 59 antique buildings, three water-powered mills, and a fully operational farm for you to explore. There are exhibits on the history of rural New England during the 1790s through the 1830s, helpful staff, bathrooms, and a large gift shop and restaurant next store in the Oliver Wright Tavern.