The Friends of Mansfield Hollow was founded around 1981 by local conservation-minded individuals, including Betty Robinson and Hillard Bullard; this followed a proposal to potentially close the park, which spurred our founders to action.
We are a 501c3 charitable nonprofit that collaborates closely with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on park stewardship.
We run special events and group hikes at the park and work to secure funds to preserve the park in accordance with our mission. A few of the footprints along our journey include:
- Securing a grant to build the pavilion in the picnic area,
- Creating trail maps for kiosks,
- Routinely completing trail maintenance (especially red and yellow blazed multi-use trails),
- Supplying tools for DEEP maintenance operations,
- Hosting special events, hikes, and outings.