Best Things to Do in Mansfield

10/03/2023

UConn Forest

North and east of the Storrs campus and contained by the Fenton River is a massive tract of woodland belonging to the university but with trails that can be accessed by the public.

The Nipmuck Trail weaves through UConn Forest, and as well as idyllic streams and peaceful woods there are some abandoned sites to track down.

On high ground near the Horsebarn Hill access point you’ll find the rather eerie remnants of a ski lift leading up from the Fenton River, going back to the 1960s when there was a short-lived ski station here.

Close to Gurleyville Road you’ll happen upon more curious vestiges at a series of long abandoned wire cages erected for animal breeding experiments in the 70s and 80s.

10/03/2023

Mansfield Center Cemetery

A rare slice of early Mansfield history sits at the corner of Storrs Road and Cemetery Road.

The Mansfield Center Cemetery, on the National Register of Historic Places, dates back to 1693 and its final burial took place in the 1870s.

The site is hailed for its quantity of delicately carved markers (some 180), crafted by some of the masters of the trade from across colonial New England.

These sport a rich variety of funerary symbols, as well as cherubim and geometric patterns and become more elaborate as you work your way through the decades.

The oldest marker is for one Exercise Conant, dated 1722.

08/03/2023

Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry

The University of Connecticut’s runs a Puppetry Arts Program, unrivalled in the United States and set up by the great puppeteer Frank W.

Ballard (1929-2010). In Storrs the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry is maintained by the university and boasts one of the three largest puppetry collections in the country.

Among 2,500 pieces from all ends of the earth there are body puppets, shadow puppets, marionettes, rod puppets and glove puppets, along with intricately crafted sets and props.

Selections from this reserve are presented in the museum’s exhibitions, and the institute’s research library holds books, clippings, scripts, posters, audio and footage charting the history of puppet theatre around the world.

There’s also a very active calendar at the institute, for performances, puppet workshops for a variety of disciplines, mask-making and more.

08/03/2023

06/03/2023

The Adventure Park at Storrs

Active family fun awaits at this high ropes attraction in verdant mixed woodland in Storrs.

The Adventure Park has eight separate high ropes trails, seven of which have testing elevated transitions to overcome, composed of wood, cable and rope.

The other trail, Pine Rush is a designated zip-line course, with six exhilarating lines.

There are 80 unique challenges at the Adventure Park, so the fun will last as long as you still have the energy! Harness and equipment are provided, along with a safety briefing showing you how to climb and use the park’s zip-lines.

04/03/2023

William Benton Museum of Art

UConn’s well-regarded art museum opened in 1967 at the regal Collegiate Gothic building that had been designed in the 1920s as the university’s main dining hall.

The museum’s collection goes back to 1933 when the Connecticut Agricultural College (as UConn was previously known) president Charles Lewis Beach bequeathed his collection to the university, and has grown down the decades.

Today it stands out for its American art, by the likes of Ellen Emmet Rand, Ernest Lawson, Henry Ward Ranger, Childe Hassam, Thomas Hart Benton and Charles Harold Davis.

This is complemented by works by a set of European luminaries like Gustav Klimt, Georges Braque, Edward Burne-Jones and Käthe Kollwitz.

In all there are 6,000 paintings, prints, watercolors, drawings, sculptures and photographs.

A selection from this inventory is constantly on show, along with short-term exhibitions covering individual artists, regions of the world or themes.