Health & Fitness
Head to Shantok for Some Fresh Air
Shantok, Village of Uncas offers trails, a playground, BBQ grills, a baseball field, picnic tables, and benches.
As the weather gets warmer, it’s time to go outside and enjoy the fresh air. There are plenty of places to go whether you just want to take a walk, have a picnic, or perhaps bring the kids to a playground or play baseball.
My favorite park in Montville is . It was formerly known as the Fort Shantok State Park and is currently owned by the Mohegan Tribe.
My favorite section of the park is the Freedom Forest which includes a nice gravel circular trail with a slight incline around a manmade pond. A long beautiful wooden pedestrian bridge goes over the pond closest to Route 2A.
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This section of the park has a large rock featuring a picture of a tree on it with the words "Freedom Forest". Only a few hundred feet away, there is a plaque dedicated to those who fought for our country during Operation: Desert Storm.
The trail features a pretty vista area overlooking the pond with two small half-circle benches.
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Many folks enjoy walking and running on the trail. It’s certainly the kind of trail that you can bring the kids to. Please use caution if you are bringing a stroller or wheelchair since there is a small incline with gravel.
There is also a beautiful dam with a waterfall. You can often find ducks at the bottom of the dam.
Additional amenities of the park include a playground, a large sheltered barbecue pit, a number of unsheltered barbecue pits, a baseball field, and picnic tables. There is building in the middle of the park with restrooms, a water fountain, and benches outside.
The park is also home to a Mohegan Tribal cemetery and a small outdoor amphitheater.
On beautiful days, you can see kids enjoying the playground while families have picnics or sometimes birthday parties.
There are additional trails throughout the park offering picturesque views of the Thames River.
Maintenance and security are definitely priorities at this park. The park is always clean and beautiful. Security guards ride on bikes on SUV's around the park.
The park is open to the public from sunrise to sunset and is located near Route 32 in the Uncasville section of Montville.
Patch readers: What is your favorite park in Montville? What do you like most about it?
