Scenes from Kent, Connecticut

In the years since Yankee first named Kent, Connecticut, as the best New England town for fall foliage, something approaching the miraculous has occurred. Even as shops and restaurants clustered around a lone traffic light have stepped up in sophistication, the landscape has hopscotched back toward 1781. More wooded, more agrarian, more alluring for autumn seekers, Kent has benefited from a recent spike in land trust acquisitions and agricultural enterprises.

Motor past Treasure Hill Road’s neat stone walls, red barns, and tilted silos, and you’re inside a scene splashed across tourism brochures for western Connecticut’s Litchfield Hills. Yet from Kent’s energetic center, at the intersection of Route 341 and Housatonic River–chasing Route 7, it’s a mere 10-minute drive across the New York line to a Metro-North train station. Over the years the blend of rural beauty and modern sophistication has lured writers, fashion designers, diplomats, actors, and musicians to take up residence here. Every weekend, its famous state parks, waterfalls, covered bridges, and hiking trails bring visitors seeking a quiet retreat or outdoor adventures — or both.

The following are some of our favorite images by Yankee senior photographer Mark Fleming for the “Kent, Connecticut | Could You Live Here?” feature in the September/October 2018 issue.

Scenes from Kent, Connecticut