photo: Tom Holzel
In 1917, Edith Morton Chase received a gift from her father, 16 acres of pristine woods in the Litchfield hills. Today, Topsmead is a 510 acre state forest, gifted from Ms. Chase in 1972 to the citizens of Connecticut to enjoy and preserve. Her legacy includes diverse landscapes, including bike and nature trails, formal gardens, unique bird habitats, and a meticulously crafted English Tudor style cottage well appointed with her international collection of art and antiques. ...more
Our Mission
Friends of Topsmead State Forest (FTSF) is a volunteer non-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose purpose is to work with the State of Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) to provide programs and activities to promote, preserve, protect, and maintain the history, heritage and environmental integrity of Topsmead, thereby supporting the wishes of Edith Morton Chase as put forth in her will.
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by Margaret Hunt
photo courtesy of Tom Holzel
The Story of Orange: October is all about orange, and walking at Topsmead in October is like walking through a luminous bubble of orange air that is paved with a floor of fallen orange-y pine needles. The combination of the red and yellow foliage intensifies the orange air because, according to color theory, “orange is the colour between yellow and red on the spectrum of visible light” (Wikipedia). In addition, the complimentary colors of orange and blue, on opposite sides of the color wheel, make walking at Topsmead on a sunny, autumn day especially intense because the orange foliage against the azure blue sky brings out the brightness of both colors. -more- |
Happenings at Topsmead |
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