We recently had the perfect Saturday adventure to Kent and Bantam Connecticut. Kent Falls state park is about 1.5 hours from New Haven. A perfect day trip for our young family sans our beloved dog Zoey. The drive to Kent Falls was a scenic drive through the countryside of Connecticut. I felt transported to Stars Hollow each town we passed.
Kent Falls State Park has a relatively small parking lot when full there is no overflow parking and vehicles will have to wait. My suggestion is to come early to avoid any traffic. With Connecticuts Passport to the Parks program, it is free for all Connecticut drivers to park. For out-of-state vehicles, the fee is $15. This is pretty steep for what the park has to offer and time likely spent in the park. Thankfully, we are Connecticut drivers so the park remained free to us.
We arrived fairly early in the morning and by the time we left the foot traffic was getting heavy. Kent Falls is popular for over 70 feet of beautiful falls and cascades. From the CT Government Website– “The stream begins in the town of Warren, draining an area of six or seven square miles. It then flows west to the big fall. From here the stream descends in a series of lesser falls and cascades to the valley, where it enters the Housatonic River some 200 feet below the brink of the big fall only a quarter mile away. Much of the limestone over which the brook flows has been carved into interesting shapes including numerous potholes of all sizes.
The flow in the cascade at Kent is normally heaviest in the spring when the winter snow is melting. However, the falls can be dramatic at any time of the year, particularly after substantial rainstorms. Fall foliage season is also an excellent time to enjoy the area. Because of its exceptional scenic qualities, Kent Falls has been featured in a number of magazine and television advertisements.”
Upon arrival to the park, I recommend walking through the covered bridge towards the main attraction of the falls. To the right, there is an open field perfect for a summer picnic. We made our way to the falls and almost added a new member to our family. A little boy (whose family was right behind us), came up to us and was fascinated by our baby Harry. He kept offering Harry toys and kept talking to us like we were old friends. I think he would have continued walking with us all day if I hadn’t told him to go back to his family.
The falls at first glance were slightly underwhelming. Very beautiful but nothing like Niagara Falls.
The real beauty in this hike comes with climbing .30 of a mile worth of stairs. The stairs ascended up the falls to various platforms perfect for pictures. With each platform found was another beautiful view of the falls. It felt like the falls were endless.
After the stairs did finally end, we decided to hike the loop around the falls. This included hiking to the end of the stairs. Cutting to the red trail then taking the yellow trail around the park. We had two ladies pass us and then saw them turn around shortly after. They couldn’t find the start of the red trail. The black/stripped trail does end abruptly at a road. We were unsure about what to do but went left across the bridge. Once across the bridge, hidden behind overgrown brush we found the marker for the red trail.
After that, the trail markers were very clear and we were able to cut over to the yellow trail. The end of the red trail is fairly steep decent but end at the parking lot which made for a perfect hike.
Hiking through the park probably took us at most two hours. By this time, we were getting hungry for lunch. With limited cell service, we used our GPS to find Arethusa Farm. Our goal was to eat at the cafe owned by Arethusa and then check out the farm. We drove to the town of Bantam which was on our way back to New Haven.
The Arethusa deli called Arethusa a Mano is in the cutest cafe. The tables inside were limited but we were able to snag a table before the crowds arrived. They had outdoor seating but the day was so chilly that no one wanted to sit outside. The menu had mostly coffee, pastries, and a few light lunch options. We went for the Gouda. If you haven’t heard an aged gouda from Arethusa Farm Dairy was the top winner at the recent 2023 United States Championship Cheese Contest. So of course, we had to try some cheese (my favorite guilty pleasure is a grilled cheese).
We ended up getting two sandwiches to share- the Vanderpoel and the grilled cheese. Both delightful. The donuts tempted us into getting a few for the go. After lunch, we stoped across the street for our favorite ice Arethusa ice cream. If we had come on a weekday, we would have seen workers making the ice cream through a window view into the factory.
It has been my goal since before Covid to go to the Cafe and I was one happy girl. We didn’t end up going to the farm because Baby Harry was a tired boy. We did however have a wonderful day trip to the picturesque countryside. A 10 out of 10 day.
Take a Hike Connecticut 