Hidden Gems Of Connecticut

SIMSBURY, CT — The latest stop in a quest to find Hidden Gems throughout Connecticut takes us to a landmark which is only half-hidden, but it is the hidden half that makes it stand out from any other in the state.

The Pinchot Sycamore, located at 20 Hartford Road (Route 185) in Simsbury at the Bataan Corregidor Memorial Bridge over the Farmington River, is the largest tree in Connecticut. Its trunk measures more than 28 feet around and it's 100 feet tall.

Much of that is not visible from the roadway due to the tree being nestled in Pinchot Sycamore Park, a small bowl-like riverside recreation ground that offers a launching point for small boats and canoes.

Located at the base of Talcott Mountain, the tree and park offer views of the Heublein Tower atop the mountain. Hundreds of visitors stop by each year to take family photographs encircling the massive trunk. At night, the tree is illuminated by floodlights.

(Tim Jensen/Patch)

The sycamore, estimated to be between 200 and 300 years old, was dedicated in 1965 to Gifford Pinchot, a former Simsbury resident who was the country's first head of the U.S. Forestry Service, as appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt. He later became governor of Pennsylvania.

Patch editor Tim Jensen contributed to this story.

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The Connecticut Hidden Gem series features out-of-the-way mom and pop restaurants, small specialty stores you may have never heard of, little-known historical markers or beautiful nature spots that may be a bit off the beaten path.