It’s that 152-acre landscape that draws me in, especially that pastoral view of the old farm from Route 4 – always a welcome break while usually stuck in that Route 4 traffic. But on this day, I sailed through and decided it was time to check out that pastoral view up close.

The first person I met while navigating Berlin’s Ragged Mountain was a trail runner that I marveled at because I was struggling just leisurely hiking the traprock ridges and boulders. The second person was a man sitting on top of the mountain silently taking in the views.

The mission of Hill-Stead Museum, a National Historic Landmark, is clear. “Hill-Stead serves diverse audiences in Connecticut and beyond as a welcoming place for learning, reflection and enjoyment. The museum develops, preserves, documents, displays and interprets its exceptional Impressionist paintings, 1901 historic house and 152-acre landscape for the benefit of present and future generations.”

I stood on a trail footbridge over a rusted gate that once fed water that helped to power a paper mill. I walked along an earthen dike to the remains of a brownstone dam that now looks strangely out of place in the middle of the woods. I climbed aboard an abandoned railroad to an old trestle bridge high above the Hockanum River.