Hogpen Hill Farms is a 234-acre tree farm and landscape sculpture park with over one hundred of Edward Tufte’s artworks located in northwest Connecticut on Weekeepeemee Road in Woodbury.
It’s “highly recommended” to start off with this short video to know the location’s topography and to meet the artist who has done work for President Obama on Stimulus money to Professor at Yale and Princeton to inventing the Blue Box to artwork in NYC galleries, around the world and even on Apple’s property.
I had forgotten about the park until I read a newspaper article about it closing for the season that coming weekend. So on a cool sunny day in November, two friends and I ventured over an hour away to check it out for the first time. P was out of town.
The steep narrow drive into the site was filled with various signs and sculptures, especially several of these floating fish.
I’m the old guy on the left holding a hiking stick with a Turkish friend in the middle and Mike, a true Nutmegger, on the right.
Our boots were made for walking so let’s get started!
“Celestial Dancer with Calipers and her DNA.” I loved studying this.
No comment on what this one appears to be doing
I liked these simple bird sculptures
This was a favorite — a huge grove of bamboo named Bambouseraie #1. Sign says silence while inside.
There were incredible long trails inside. It was truly easy to get lost.
Another “Celestial Dancer with Calipers and her DNA.” with just a tiny difference from the other one?
My friends couldn’t get over how I was just as interested, if not more so, in the landscaping as the sculptures! There were incredible ornamental grasses that I was not familiar with. Many were miniature types planted in swarms. Someone had an excellent eye!
I didn’t realize until I started putting this dairy together that I had taken this of a giraffe but I don’t recall seeing the cutout anywhere. Trust me there was so much to see that it was easy to overlook it!
There are literally miles of walking trails and open space. After over three hours of walking, we finally called it quits without continuing to the end as we still had to find our way back to the car.
World Headquarters, next to the parking lot, is an indoor studio gallery featuring Tufte’s artwork, prints, books and much more.
So you have an idea about the cost of his work, the small piece on the top right had a price tag of $12,000.
Hogpen Hill Farms was only opened in 2025 from September 5th to November 2nd on Fridays to Sundays from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm as guests must exit before then.
$72 per car (4 tires, up to 6 people)
$50 for one person in car
$40 per car, Friday tickets only
I will definitely be back this year, taking P and the Tobacco Barn couple. Sorry Ida D as no dogs are allowed.
I would have bought this one if I had a few extra thousands.
I strongly recommend visiting Hogpen Hill Farms if in the area.
We finished off the trip by eating at a local diner and then stopping to visit my oldest CT friend who also lives in Woodbury. His in-laws from Albania were staying there and served some incredible desserts with coffee.
I have had a rough week dealing with 18” of snow. I couldn’t get my snow blower back to Ida’s pen so had to hand shovel her a figure eight. Our furnace was not heating the downstairs above 62 so P and I had dinner several nights while wearing hats and coats. Last night the outside temperature got down to -6 degrees so it was a battle to keep the pipes in the upstairs 1798 section from freezing (laundry room and a full bath). I’m happy to know that this weekend’s storm will miss us but watch out if you are in its path. Still I actually like all the snow and need to make some snow cream!
My father’s pickup truck. I had stood the windshield wipers up but they disappeared.
This is looking out a second floor window onto the side porch’s roof.
I’ll be in and out today. I hope you are keeping warm! What’s going on in your part of the world today?
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