The Gorgeous Connecticut Park Everyone Has To Visit At Least Once

To most Connecticut residents, thinking of Hartford conjures up images of the capitol and tall buildings housing some of the world’s largest insurance companies. Many people don’t realize one of Connecticut’s most beautiful parks hides right near the corporate and government buildings in our state’s capital and adjacent West Hartford.

In the late 19th Century, a financier left his 102-acre estate straddling Hartford and West Hartford to the City of Hartford to be turned into a park named for his late wife, Elizabeth.

The city hired famed landscape designers Olmsted & Sons to bring the vision for the park into reality.

In 1904, the park's superintendent created the park's now-famous rose garden. Today, it's on the National Register of Historic Places, and it's the oldest municipal rose garden in the country.

Walking through the park's unique features, you'll wonder whether you've stepped through a wardrobe into a magical fantasy land.

But, it's not a fantasy. It's Hartford, believe it or not!

In the 1970s, the city decided it could no longer afford to maintain the garden. Volunteers banded together and formed a group called Friends of Elizabeth Park to save the garden. The group keeps the garden going to this day.

The Friends of Elizabeth Park do an amazing job keeping the rose garden and the park's other gardens beautiful. There are about 15,000 bushes containing 800 rose varieties.

When the weather is nice, various groups hold community yoga classes in the park.

The scenic pond is a gorgeous escape from reality. Lunch at the Pond House Cafe, located in the park, is a delight.

Even in the winter, Elizabeth Park feels like a magical fantasy land.

Have you ever been to Elizabeth Park? Did you know it’s the oldest municipal rose garden in the country? If you’ve never been, here’s the address: 1561 Asylum Ave, West Hartford, CT 06117

For more free things to do in Connecticut, check out this list.

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The Place In Connecticut That Makes You Feel Like You’ve Stepped Through A Magical Wardrobe

Lauren Sweeney

Author

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