Somers sits on a shelf of high ground. Stand on the observation tower at Soapstone Mountain on a clear October afternoon and you can see the Connecticut River Valley open up to the west, the Springfield skyline stacked on the horizon, and the low haze over the tobacco fields between them. That view is the reason the fall calendar in this town looks the way it does. The fair, the orchards, the trails, and the tables on Main Street are not four separate weekends. They are four ways of using the same geography.
If you live here already, you know the checklist. What follows is less a list and more a way of stitching a Saturday together without driving in circles.
The Ridge Above the Valley
Shenipsit State Forest covers roughly 7,170 acres sprawling across Ellington, Somers, and Stafford, and its primary attraction is hiking along the Blue-Blazed Shenipsit Trail or riding the miles of non-motorized multi-use trails that pass over Soapstone Mountain. The summit itself is not dramatic. Soapstone Mountain tops out at 1,075 feet, and the Town of Somers owns adjacent land that includes the 1,121-foot summit of Bald Mountain, the highest point along the eastern edge of the Connecticut River Valley in Connecticut. What earns the trip is the tower. The current observation tower stands specifically for public recreational viewing after the original fire tower came down, and from that vantage point you can take in vistas from the Connecticut River Valley to the Springfield skyline.
For a short outing, the Soapstone Mountain Trail is considered a moderate hike covering 2.2 miles with an elevation gain of 337 feet, and takes about an hour to an hour and a half. The parking situation matters if you are going in peak foliage season. Parking is free, limited at the summit, with additional parking at the base. Drive up if you are bringing kids or someone who does not want the climb. Park at the base if you actually want the walk.
A less obvious option starts lower on the hill. The Forest View Trail connects the Northern Connecticut Land Trust's Whitaker Woods property on Wells Road to trails on Soapstone Mountain with access to the summit, and hikers can park at Whitaker Woods and go up and back from there. This is a much quieter approach than Gulf Road on a Saturday in October.
If you want distance without the tourist traffic, keep going. The 84-acre McCann Family Farm stretches from near the center of Somers on Route 190 up the northwestern slopes of Soapstone Mountain, with a 1.95-mile Shady Brook Trail and a 3.0-mile Jerry Stage Trail. The Jerry Stage loop is the closest thing Somers has to a proper half-day hike within town lines.
While you are up there, the Historic Museum of the Civilian Conservation Corps sits within the forest and is worth an hour if the weather turns. The CCC built a lot of what you are walking on.
The Fair That Predates Most of the Roads
Mid-September belongs to the Four Town Fair. Four Town Fair runs September 17 through 20 at 56 Egypt Road in Somers. It is one of Connecticut's oldest fairs, with a parade through the center of Somers, contests, live bands, amusement rides, a horse show, livestock, and fair food across four days.
A note on context that flatters the town a little. Somers was incorporated in 1734 by the General Court of Massachusetts and named for Lord John Somers of England, and in 1749 it separated from Massachusetts and was annexed to Connecticut. The fair has been running long enough that generations of the families walking the midway can point to which cousin's pig is in which barn. That is a different experience than the corporate midway circuit, and it is the reason locals treat the fair less as an event and more as a reunion.
The same fairgrounds pull double duty earlier in the season. The Hartford County 4-H Fair uses 56 Egypt Road on August 14 through 16. Worth checking if you have kids in a livestock program or you just want a quieter, small-scale version of the September crowds.
Where the Orchards Sit
The hills that give you the view also give the orchards their aspect. Irish Bend Orchard is the anchor. It is a fourth-generation farm family in Somers offering peach, apple, and Asian pear picking, plus farm fresh vegetables including sweet corn, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, and peppers. Apple picking runs September into October, with varieties including Zestar, McIntosh, Cortland, Macoun, Golden Delicious, HoneyCrisp, Empire, Early Fuji, Gala, Smokehouse, and Cameo.
The variety list is longer than most people picking in a single trip will realize. If you are used to walking out with a bag of McIntosh, try showing up for Macoun in late September or Cameo in October. They are different apples.
For a family visit, the pumpkin logistics are the useful detail. Irish Bend offers a free tractor ride to the pumpkin field where you can select your own, with rides running roughly ten minutes each way. The orchard sits on land bought by Benjamin Pinney in 1890, where he grew potatoes and tobacco and planted the first apple trees, and the current apple and peach trees on Pioneer Heights Road went in starting in 2003. The current farm is on 90 Pioneer Heights Road. Weekend hours generally run 9 to 5, weather permitting.
A quick way to think about stringing a day together:
| Start | Middle | End |
|---|---|---|
| Morning hike on Soapstone or the Whitaker Woods approach | U-pick at Irish Bend and a farm stand stop for corn and tomatoes | Early dinner on Main Street |
The whole loop is under fifteen miles of driving.
After Dark on Main Street
The dining scene in Somers is compact and honest. There are not thirty restaurants pretending to be twenty different things. There are a handful of places that residents actually cycle through.
Bond 124 is an Italian-American restaurant and gastropub with 26 craft beers on tap, signature cocktails, and a lively room. It is the closest thing to a neighborhood default for a Friday night. Joanna's works if you want to combine dinner with a room for a larger party. Joanna's has a bar for cocktails, catering for events at your place, and live music. Somers Pizza handles the takeout end. Hours run 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Something new is landing on Main Street. Iron Fox at 585 Main Street is billed as a restaurant and bar opening soon, and the calendar already shows programming. The venue has hosted a Karaoke Ball with a cash prize and songwriter nights featuring local songwriters. Once it is fully open, it changes what a Saturday night in the center of town looks like. Somers has not had a live-music room of its own in a long time.
For summer holdouts, Sonny's Place at 145 Main Street runs an outdoor concert series through summer and into fall. Check their schedule before the weather turns.
Local tip: If you are hiking Soapstone in October, go early. The tower deck is small, and by 11 a.m. on a clear Saturday, the wait to climb up is real. Leave the house by 8, be off the trail by 10:30, and you are at Irish Bend before the parking lot fills.
Stringing It Together
The point of laying it out this way is that Somers rewards a resident who plans on the ridge line rather than by the calendar. The Four Town Fair weekend does not have to compete with orchard season. The tower does not have to compete with dinner on Main Street. Everything worth doing this fall sits inside a fifteen-minute drive of everything else.
That compactness is what people who have lived in Somers a long time already understand and what newer residents figure out around their second October. It is also, quietly, one of the reasons people who move here tend to stay.
If a fall walk through town has you thinking about what the house down the road might be worth, or you know someone in Somers who has been quietly wondering the same, Cindy Muska is glad to talk through it. Get a Free Home Valuation whenever you are ready.
