Name: The Letterboxes of Sunny Brook Park
Planted by Rubaduc 11-7-02
Easy 2 mile walk in Sunny Brook State Park

Directions: On Rt. 4 west out of Torrington, turn right at the police
station onto Winsted Road. Straight through the next light then turn left
at the set of lights at the white church onto Newfield Road. At 2.4 miles
you'll see a sign on the right, at a bridge pointing out the John Muir
Trail. Just after the bridge on the left is the park entrance marked only
by stone pillars and a no littering sign. Plenty of parking.

Clues: Head south through the customary park gate on a paved road
crossing over a good sized bridge. When you come to a fork, take the
right fork to see the remains of what once must have been a thriving
state park. I poked around here for a bit then headed towards the left
end of the "old" parking lot to a dirt road. This leads to Torrington's
model airplane field and since no one was flying I walked around. If the
field is being used, take a left over the little bridge and come back to
the road you were on originally. If the field in not being used you still
need to cross that bridge when you come to it. When you're back on the
main road you're looking on your left for a secluded meadow (it's a
little over 200 paces-400 steps if you're so inclined to count) but I
don't think you'll miss it. Go into the meadow, hang a right and half way
through you'll see a many fingered tree (I just love letterboxing
vocabulary) behind the tree, under dam rocks is the Flutter Butter Meadow
Letterbox. Watch for the fluttering things and if nature doesn't provide,
you might be lucky enough to turn around towards the other meadow and see
man made ones.
The dam ahead of you is the old Newfield Dam and I was tempted to put a
box on top, except it could be a drive by from Newfield Road. If you want
to climb it for a look, the right side is pretty easy and rockless.
Head back the way you came to the first bridge (the bigger one) and just
after you cross it take a left onto the blue trail. There are blazes on
the left side on the pavement (unless there's snow cover) then you'll
have to look into the woods for the blazes. Before long you'll see a sign
on a tree on the right that says "Whites Nature Trail" and lots of blue
blazes. Stay straight on the trail, up a small incline till you come to a
brook with a cement culvert crossing, you can see the yellow trail ahead
of you on the left. Turn around, count 12 steps, look to your right and
under the back edge of a large round boulder is the Picnic in the Park
Letterbox. Stamp in, careful not to be seen, and rehide as found. Follow
the blue back to the road and your car.
I took many trails and there's some awesome hiking in here, but I
wouldn't recommend it with out a map. If you take the John Muir Trail at
the bridge, you can come out at Burr Pond State Park (in 4 miles).
Remember to wear orange there is hunting here.