About us:

Tarrywile Park is the answer to any nature lover’s dream.  The park offers 722 acres of fields and meadows giving way to spectacular views, dense forests of hemlock, oak and maple, and steep hillsides punctuated by dramatic outcrops of granite and glistening streams and ponds. There are twenty-one miles of cleared hiking trails and several picnic areas.  The park lends itself to opportunities for observing wildlife and enjoying the scenery or an aggressive workout on rugged terrain.  There are also many structured activities at the park, such as, National Trails Day, Winterfest, the Boy Scout Klondike & Jamboree, and several area high schools use the park as their home course for cross-country meets.  The Tarrywile Park Authority and staff, which manage the park for the City of Danbury, are proud to offer most park events free of charge.  Volunteers conduct guided hikes most every Saturday and Sunday throughout the year. Other programming opportunities are offered and are published in the Calendar of Events which is available on our website at www.tarrywile.com.

Within the boundaries of Tarrywile Park stand both the Tarrywile Mansion and Hearthstone Castle. These structures are listed on the National Register for Historic Preservation.  The Mansion is a community center for the City of Danbury where many meetings, weddings and social events are held. It is surrounded by formal gardens, an orchard and beautiful specimen trees. The Authority set a fee schedule for use of the building that allows Danbury residents and non-profits very reasonable rates. A children’s garden is located along the Mansion front lawn and is the site of many an exploration by young botanists.  An adaptive reuse study has been completed for Hearthstone Castle through a grant from the CT Trust for Historic Preservation and a Castle Task Force has been set up to look into the possibility of restoration of this magnificent structure.

Many folks are surprised to hear that the 722 acres of land and seventeen buildings are cared for by a staff of only four, which includes the Executive Director, our Administrative Secretary/Event Coordinator, a Grounds and Buildings Foreman and a Grounds and Buildings Caretaker. The staff works very closely with many volunteers who help to maintain the park including Eagle Scouts, Girl and Boy Scouts, our nine member Volunteer Hike Leaders, as well as corporations and those looking to complete community service hours – be it school, church or court appointed.  Without the help of these fine volunteers we would not be able to maintain this park as the largest municipally owned park in the State of Connecticut.

     


Our accomplishments:

This past fall, we sponsored a very successful hayride and mini maze for preschool and kindergarten children.   This program will continue in 2010 and will hopefully become a tradition at Tarrywile for many years to come. We send out a big round of applause to all of our volunteers for their efforts no matter how large or small. Our motto is “many hands make light work”.