The Last Green Valley, Inc. (TLGV) is kicking off the 26^th year of Walktober with a cavalcade of spectacular activities in the National Heritage Corridor! What started out as a “Walking Weekend” years ago has expanded to more than a month’s worth of adventures led by enthusiastic volunteers. Most activities are free and many are family-friendly. You can find it all in the Walktober brochure available by: emailing mail@tlgv.org; calling 860-774-3300; downloading a PDF from the website www.thelastgreenvalley.org; or by picking one up at any town hall, library or information kiosk within the region.

Here are a few fun choices this coming week:

Want to experience a bird’s-eye view of the brilliant fall colors? You can! Ascend lightly in a tethered hot-air balloon, thanks to ReMax, as you take in the “Views Above the Hill” (listing #27) at Fort Hill Farms in Thompson on Sunday, September 26, from 4 – 6 pm. The cost is $10 per person and all proceeds benefit TLGV.  Please note that this activity is wind and weather dependent.

Learn what makes the The Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor so unique while hiking to Hatchet Pond in Southbridge (listing #9), paddling on Webster Lake (listing #24), and visiting with SH2LD: Sheldon’s Horse, the 2^nd Light Dragoons (listing #18) and the 1^st Commissioned Calvary (listing #19) as Samuel Huntington himself hosts you in Scotland.

Towns and organizations shine! National Public Lands Day happens in Charlton at Buffumville (listing #7), and Celebrating Agriculture does just that (listing #8). Brooklyn’s Fall Festival (listing #13), Positively Pomfret Day (listing #15) and Thompson Community Day (listing #20) all invite you to partake!

Add land trust choices with Joshua’s Trust (listing #12 & #22), Wyndham Land Trust (listing #16) and Connecticut Farmland Trust (listing #21) and you’ll observe terrific examples of hard-work being done to preserve our precious open spaces and undeveloped lands.

Walktober is known to be children and family-friendly! Laurelei’s Letterboxing Adventure (listing #10) and the Burrito Brunch & Bicycling (listing #14) are perfect family adventures. Many of the multi-day events like the corn mazes at Fort Hill Farms (listing #2) and Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm (listing #3), plus Mansfield Library’s Story walk (listing #32) and the Haunted Nature Trail (listing #74) will be available for you to squeeze into your family schedule over a range of time.

This is only the tip of Walktober choices, so be sure to get a brochure in your hands!

All updates, additions and cancellations will be posted on the Walktober page on TLGV’s website and Facebook page, so please check them often.

The Last Green Valley is a National Heritage Corridor – the last stretch of dark night sky in the coastal sprawl between Boston and Washington, D.C.  The Last Green Valley, Inc. works for you in the National Heritage Corridor. We help you to care for it, enjoy it and pass it on.