TRAVEL: Hidden Winter Getaways 

TRAVEL: Hidden Winter Getaways 

By Anastasia Mills Healy

It’s not surprising that Connecticut has a Christmas Movie Trail and inspired “Gilmore Girls.” Our town greens, overlooked by colonial homes and steepled churches, are centered on gazebos and trees decorated for the holidays. You can shop for handcrafted items in picturesque downtowns and holiday craft fairs; visit a Christmas tree farm; meet Santa and reindeer; and experience the magic of the North Pole Express, The Nutcracker and The Hallelujah Chorus. But when the frenzy of the holidays is over, what is there to do in Connecticut in winter? How about sleeping in a treehouse and feeding goats on a farm, riding in a horse-drawn sleigh, driving a UTV on private country trails, or learning how to play polo in a heated indoor ring? Here are some ideas for winter fun in Connecticut.

Special Overnights 

There are two accommodation options at Willington’s family-run Blue Bird Farm, a working farm with babydoll sheep, goats, chickens and Daisy the miniature pig house pet. Guests are free to wander the 40-acre property on their own or learn about farm life on a tour. Choose The Barn Loft Two with two bedrooms separated by a living/dining room with a fireplace or climb the stairs to the Treehouse for a cozy space with one full loft bed and a living area with a fireplace and a sofa bed. A less rustic but exponentially more expensive treehouse option can be found in Morris at Winvian Farm where 18 individually designed, decorated and themed cottages all have a fireplace.

Speaking of luxury, the Mayflower Inn & Spa in Washington is an elegant English country home-like property with 58 acres of grounds for snowshoeing and woodland walking. The big draw here is an extraordinary spa that, in addition to an indoor pool and many treatments and services, offers a unique four-person outdoor cedar sauna. Stay overnight to get the full experience or come for the day and book a facial, massage or spa package at The Retreat that will slough off dry winter skin and shake off any winter blues.  

Near Mohawk and Catamount, Interlaken Inn in Lakeville is a cozy après ski spot with some accommodations that feature a fireplace or hot tub. Add onsite dining, movie screenings complete with reclining chairs and snacks, fitness and wellness classes, and a massage and you’ll have a perfect mix of activity and relaxation.

Indoor Fun 

Many Connecticut residents aren’t aware that the University of Connecticut’s College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources has a Department of Animal Science that offers the public horseback riding lessons on the Storrs campus. Whether you’d like to try dressage, hunt seat, polo, trail or Western, there are options for private and group lessons in a large, heated, indoor ring. Why not get the family together and learn polo?

A day in New Haven can be spent in any number of ways indoors from pizza sampling to wandering through Yale’s world-class, free museums like the newly renovated Yale Center for British Art and Peabody Museum of Natural History. For something more active, kids and adults alike can find a suitable course at the It Adventure Ropes Course where smaller kids can navigate platforms three feet off the ground. Fearless adults and older kids can face challenges like swinging beams and zip around 56 feet in the air.

The casinos have more than enough to entertain you indoors for days. The largest multilevel indoor karting facility in the United States is “powered by” Mohegan Sun but located 20 minutes away in Montville. Anyone 58” and taller can race at Supercharged where there’s also axe throwing, trampolines, and a ninja course where you can test your skills on 18 obstacles like a spinning log and battle beam. You can break a sweat just thinking about all the activities at Foxwoods. There’s go karting, a golf simulator, arcade, bowling, escape room, pottery studio, retail outlets, spa and an impressive 308,000-square-foot museum in addition to gaming and live entertainment. The newly opened Great Wolf Lodge adds an indoor water park to the fun.

Serious gamers might want to head south to Stamford to experience the new go kart-video game mash up called Kart Klash at RPM Raceway. In this unique go kart/VR experience, drivers race each other at 50 mph while collecting targets and activating power-ups. RPM Raceway also has an arcade, bowling alley, and virtual and augmented reality experiences.

A small group of friends or family will need to use their noggins and work together to solve riddles and puzzles in an escape room. There are many options across the state including Escapism in Southington, which has been voted the best in Connecticut for two years running. Explore a jungle temple or haunted apartment or plan a robbery in these immersive experiences for ages 10+.

Another kind of treasure hunting is antiques shopping. Putnam’s four-floor Antiques Marketplace can keep you busy for hours perusing seemingly every item imaginable from all time periods. Walk the aisles to find nostalgic toys, military memorabilia, costume jewelry, fine art and so much more. The town’s other stores, restaurants and brewery complete a fun day out.

Outdoor Adventures

Eagle lovers should bring their binoculars to the Shepaug Eagle Observation Area at the Shepaug Dam in Southbury to observe one of New England’s largest gatherings of wintering eagles. From December to March, bird watchers can make a free reservation and stand in a blind to observe eagles and other species like hawks that are attracted to this spot because the Shepaug Hydroelectric Station prevents the Housatonic River from freezing here.

You do want solid ice though if you’d like to try ice fishing. The Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection offers online and in-person ice fishing classes and lists places to try it like East Twin Lake in Salisbury and Middlefield’s Lake Beseck. 

As an alternative to downhill skiing and snowboarding, you can glide through the silent serenity of the Farmington woods at Winding Trails Cross Country Ski Center. It offers equipment rentals and lessons. Its 12 miles of groomed trails are reserved for skiers, so you won’t encounter hikers or dogs. The property’s 350 acres also have areas for ice skating, sledding and tubing.

Another option for gliding through the snow is a sleigh ride around Lake Hayward in East Haddam. Allegra Farm has a remarkable collection of antique carriages and sleighs seen in “The Gilded Age,” “The Greatest Showman” and many other Hollywood productions. Make an appointment to admire them at the on-site Horse Drawn Carriage and Sleigh Museum of New England and/or arrange a sleigh ride or carriage ride at the farm or elsewhere. 

If your goal is less romance and more adrenaline, hop on a UTV and off road through 1,000 acres of private trails in Canaan with Backyard Adventures UTV Tours. Anyone with a license can drive (if under 21, a parent must be in the same vehicle) and kids 5+ can be passengers. A guide leads the way on their own UTV and when there’s snow, trails are tracked.

There is so much to do in Connecticut so have fun this winter indoors and outdoors!

Anastasia Mills Healy is a Greenwich-based travel writer and author of “100 Things to Do in Connecticut Before You Die” and “Secret Connecticut: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure.”