Pachaug State Forest

One of my fav places! So peaceful and always something to do here!

This is the largest state forest in Connecticut. It is my favorite place to go hiking in Eastern Connecticut. You will feel completely removed from civilization here, and I have spent all day here without seeing another person. It's a great way to exercise and relieve stress. There are at least 70 miles of trails in this forest.

Great state forest with a variety of trails for hiking, biking, enduro, horseback, etc. Nicely marked and managed. Enjoy having this in my area especially with a dog that likes to go on a hike anytime!

Perfect forest when you want to feel in another planet. Clean restrooms, trash cans, already paved roads and trails, much flora and fauna to explore, similar to an enchanted natural habitat.

Awesome for jeep ride through. Especially when it snows it makes for great scenery and bumpy fun ride. But as signs mentions continous at own risk. One road is a dangerous one and id advise only do it if you think your jeep can handle it and be prepared if you have to make car repairments after the ride through if needed though.

Really nice clean area to ride around and enjoy the scenery. There are a few trails for you to drive on none of which really requiring and 4x4 or off road capability however do be careful on some of the roads in the area after a heavy rain as there may be some pooling. There are picnic areas and camping areas in the forest. During the week when I went there was no one in sight. It seemed like I had the forest to myself and was able to stop on the trails for plenty of photos.

Great place to hike. Did about 2 miles. Many trails to choose from and will definitely come back.

Beautiful place to hike and explore. 🌲 Pachaug State Forest was established with a 1,011 acre land purchase from the Briggs Manufacturing Co. in Voluntown in 1928.  In 1933, the first year the Civilian Conservation Corps began, Camp Lonergan was established in the Forest. 🌲  As funding became available, the forest quickly grew, totaling 12,000 acres by 1937.  The actions of the Resettlement Administration, in 1937, acquired an additional 9,000 acres and leased the land to the state for forest production.  Eventually, this land was deeded to the state.

So this part of Pachaug State Forest is the area that surrounds Green Falls Pond. There's a long gravel road (that is closed in the offseason) that leads to the main camping area along the pond. When we visited, it was a bit quiet, but as the day went along, a lot of people came to visit, particularly from Rhode Island. There's a boat launch where you can offload your canoe or kayak, and there were a lot of people out on the water when we were hiking. There's a loop hike around the lake, which is a nice hike, but a bit tricky and eroded in places. For other hiking, several CT Blue Blazed trails go through the park: the Narragansett, Nehantic, and Pachaug trails. So it's a good place to plan a nice big hike, and there were plenty of people taking advantage of the trails when we were there. There is also camping here, but it's relatively primitive camping - there's no bathhouse here, and we only saw one pair of pit toilets in the whole park. So altogether it's a big of a rugged place, but it's a lovely spot for a number of activities.

It's worth exploring, camping, hiking, ponds. It's a beautiful state park. Use your GPS or you may miss the little dirt road, with the sign

Great place for camping with your loved furry family members!! Went there with my best friend, her son, my husband, our Bella and myself. Had such a great time. Everything was going well until on Saturday mid-morning triathlon organizer: Amy Price's (for "On Your Left" racing) dog, Piper, came into our campsite unattended and without a leash and bit my dog Bella. Bella fought back but was left with a big cut under her eye and on her cheek. I would have given this place a higher rating but we believe that the lack of "dogs on leash" rule caused us to have a bittersweet time. Also, please note there are no showers in the premises. So be prepared to spend a weekend or however long you plan on staying, cleaning yourself with wipes. The beach was super nice and relaxing.

Even though it rained during our stay, couldn't be happier with the experience! Found this place through the CT website when looking for camping sites that allowed dogs and so glad we took a chance on it! The camp site and Green Fall Pond were about a ten minute drive in from any entrance way so it was rather removed from any traffic noises. The roads are a little bumpy, but I was quite immersed in the forestry during the drive in. Camping sites are first come first serve, but we had no issue finding one and there were still many left-- a total of 18 campsites. Each campsite has a picnic table and stone fire pit area and allows for cars to park right on the premise. Supposedly someone comes around either at night or morning to collect the rates of $17 for CT residents ad $27 for non-residents. There are 3 pairs of bathrooms throughout and a water pump. The Green Fall Pond area had a swimming area where the water was very clear and picnicking tables and grills that were packed with families. There was also a boat launching area where many people brought canoes and kayaks and you could go out to a little island in the middle of the pond. Unfortunately, we didn't have a boat of any kind, but next time! Also saw some people fishing, but don't know if they had any luck. Then there are hiking trails throughout, ones that go around the pond and ones that extend further. I do wish they had clearer, more-entailing maps that showed all the trails as well as their distances. Since this is a state park and that means there's nature involved, do be aware that there are plenty of bugs and snakes slithering around but nothing dangerous to worry about.

Pachaug State Forest is not that great. It is good for a small picnic. The CT state parks site says a lot can be done in this forest (Boating, Hunting, Backpack Camping, Motorcycling, Camping, Mountain Biking, Cross-Country Skiing, Picnicking, Freshwater Fishing, Scenic Vista, Hiking, Snowmobiling, Horseback Riding, Horse Camping). Since we don't do most of these, we limited our trip to a small picnic and the forest didn't amaze us much. We visited this place when we visited the Hopeville Pond State Park.