Hidden Gems of North-Central Connecticut

SIMSBURY, CT — You can see it for miles around ... but how exactly do you get to it? The latest installment of the Hidden Gems series takes us to the Heublein Tower atop Talcott Mountain.

Offering panoramic views of the Farmington River Valley and the Hartford skyline from elevation of more than a thousand feet, the 165-foot tower was constructed in 1914 as the summer home and retreat of Gilbert Heublein, a food and beverage magnate most noted for manufacturing Smirnoff vodka and A.1. steak sauce.

The tower, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is located inside Talcott Mountain State Park, which covers 574 acres within the towns of Simsbury, Avon and Bloomfield. A steep 1.25 mile trail leads to the tower, a hike which takes 30 to 40 minutes; vehicles are not permitted beyond the parking area.

So how exactly do you get there? The park entrance is situated on Summit Ridge Road in Simsbury, off Route 185. Whether you're driving westbound down the mountain from Bloomfield at 300 miles an hour, or up the grade eastbound from Simsbury at about 5 miles an hour, you need to keep a sharp eye out for the miniscule sign on the west side of the roadway, which is slightly set back to further enable the chance to miss it, as seen below.

(Google Maps)

(Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection)

(Tim Jensen/Patch Media Corp.)

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The Hidden Gems 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. Do you have a favorite "hidden gem" in the area that you wish to see featured in this column? Email your ideas to tim.jensen@patch.com.

Other columns in this series:

• Birthplace of Jonathan Edwards
• Grave of Revolutionary War Soldier Heman Baker
• Jessica's Garden, Lobster and Ice Cream Shack
• Shade Swamp Sanctuary
• Ken's Corner Breakfast & Lunch
• Tolland Red and White
• The Packing House
• Cold Harbor Seafood
• Nye Holman State Forest/Heron Cove Park
• Hosmer Mountain Soda Shack
• Connecticut Trolley Museum
• Matterhorn Mini Golf
• Wood Memorial Library & Museum
• Hastings Farm
• Liquid Nirvana
• Iwo Jima Survivors Memorial Park
• Academy Hall
• Southington Drive-In
• Little Theatre of Manchester at Cheney Hall
• Somersvillage Gifts & Gourmet Baskets
• New England Civil War Museum
• The Pinchot Sycamore
• Stafford Palace Theater
• Mansfield Hollow State Park
• Old Tolland County Jail and Museum
• Hill-Stead Museum
• Mark's Restaurant