Other Sights

Creamery Brook Bison Farm

Among the trivia on display at Creamery Brook Bison Farm (19 Purvis Rd., Brooklyn, 860/779-0837, www.creamerybrookbison.net [1], 2–6 p.m., Mon.–Fri. and 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Sat. Apr.–Oct.; 2 p.m.–6 p.m. Wed.–Fri. and 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Sat. Nov.–Mar.; and by appointment, group tours $90 minimum charge for 1–15 people, $6 adult, $5 child for 16th person and up) is the fact that buffalo can “easily” jump over a six-foot-tall fence. That’s a bit nerve-wracking when you are staring down a beast on the other side of the boards; the owners of this bison-and-emu farm however stress that they only jump over fences when they are really angry. Visitors can keep the buffalo happy by purchasing food to hand-feed them; then they can purchase (cow’s milk) ice cream to feed themselves.

Buell’s Orchard

Situated far off the beaten track, the wooded Buell’s Orchard (108 Crystal Pond Rd., Eastford, 860/974-1150, www.buellsorchard.com [2], 8 a.m.–5 p.m., Mon.–Fri., 8 a.m.–3 p.m. Sat., closed Sun., mid-July–Aug.; 8 a.m.–5 p.m., Mon.–Sat., 1 p.m.–5 p.m. Sun., Sept.–Oct.; 8 a.m.–4 p.m. Mon.–Fri., 8 a.m.–3 p.m., Sat., closed Sunday, Nov.–Dec.; 8 a.m.–noon, Mon.–Sat, closed Sundays, June.) offers pick-your-owns starting in May with strawberries and continuing through apples in October. The real draw of this family-run orchard, however, is a rare automatic candy-apple factory, which dunks an apple a second in gooey caramel and peanuts, and it’s open to visitors for tours (and samples). The apples are so fresh, they almost seem healthy.

Quinebaug Valley Trout Hatchery

Fishermen salivate when they look through the glass windows at Quinebaug Valley Trout Hatchery (Trout Hatchery Rd., Plainfield, 860/564-7542, www.ct.gov [3], 9:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. daily, free), which raises some 600,000 brown, brook, and rainbow trout annually. Released into the wild, the fish provide about three-quarters of all trout stocked in Connecticut [4] rivers and lakes.