Farmington Canal Heritage Trail :
Connecticut
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Description:
Running north from the Yale University campus in New Haven through the heart of Connecticut, the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail comprises several distinct segments totaling 40 miles of rail-trail. When completed, this multiuse trail will stretch, uninterrupted, more than 60 miles from New Haven to the Massachusetts border. A 7-mile segment under development in Southwick, Massachusetts, will eventually link to a network of trails still farther north in Northampton, creating a key interstate route.
The trail follows the corridor of the defunct Farmington Canal, New England's onetime longest canal. Completed in 1835, the waterway stretched 87 miles from New Haven to Northampton, boasting 28 locks and three aqueducts. While it was an engineering marvel, the canal was never profitable, and in 1848, the Farmington Canal Railroad (a.k.a. New Haven & Northampton Railroad) acquired the right-of-way and filled in much of the channel to make way for the tracks. (The rail line met a similar fate in the 1980s.) Traces of the canal remain throughout the Farmington Valley. Most notable is Lock 12, a trailside museum in Cheshire that centers on the restored lock. To date, the rail-trail spans the following four segments: New Haven, Hamden to Cheshire, Southington, and Farmington to the Massachusetts border.
New Haven Section
Anchoring the trail's southern terminus is Yale's new Malone Engineering Building, designed by prominent architect Caesar Pelli. A landscaped setting and reproduced streetlamps lend atmosphere to this 1.25-mile, asphalt-paved, urban path. There is no designated trail parking, but on-street or garage parking is available. Starr Street marks the trail's end.
To continue to the Hamden to Cheshire section by bike, riders need to travel 4 miles on lightly trafficked roads. Turn right on Starr, travel one block, turn left on Newhall Street, and continue about a mile through the Putnam Avenue intersection; Newhall becomes Leeder Hill Drive. Follow Leeder Hill to the road's end at Treadwell Street, take a right, then take an immediate left on Martin Terrace. At the road's end, turn left on Mather Street, followed by a right on Waite Street. (You'll pass a series of lakes on water company property.) Take the first left on Coram Street, then left again on Beverly Road. Follow Beverly around, then bear right on Woodbine Street, skirting the water company property. Make the third left on Elgin Street, go one block, then continue straight on Connolly Parkway. At Wilbur Cross Parkway (State Route 15), turn right to pick up the Hamden to Cheshire section.
Hamden to Cheshire Section
A prominent sign for the New Haven & Northampton Railroad-The Canal Line marks the trailhead of this popular northbound segment at the Conno lly Parkway in Hamden. Woods soon line the asphalt path, and you'll cross bridge after bridge over a meandering stream. To learn about the corridor's canal and railroad roots, pause to read trailside historical markers and watch for the old brick depot and adjacent freight house just past the second parking area. Approaching Cheshire, you'll reach the aforementioned Lock 12 and keeper's house, now a historical park. Here you'll find trailhead parking, picnic tables, toilets, a drinking fountain, and a phone. Trail's end lies 1.6 miles north at a parking lot on Cornwall Avenue in Cheshire.
Southington Section
From an inviting trailhead parking area on West Main Street in downtown Southington, this 2-mile asphalt trail bridges the Quinnipiac River and passes through the heart of a restored mill section starting at Center Street. From here, turn right on Center Street to check out the downtown eateries, or continue north to the trail's end on Hart Street.
Farmington to the Massachusetts Border Section
Despite a few on-road detours, the 22-mile northern section of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail is a rewarding bike ride. It shares its Tunxis Meade Park trailhead with the 8.5-mile Farmington River Trail (see page 21).
Within the first mile, pause to admire the view from a high bridge over the Farmington River. At mile 3, the Thompson Road trailhead provides restrooms. The trail first leaves the corridor 5.8 miles along in Avon, meandering a mile along surface streets and beneath Route 44 before rejoining the corridor at Sperry Park. Continue north through East Granby.
Approaching Simsbury, the trail passes restored brownstone buildings on the campus of aerospace and defense conglomerate Ensign-Bickford, which started in 1836 as a manufacturer of William Bickfords safety fuses for mining. Reaching a small bridge on Route 10, briefly follow the sidewalk, then turn right on Drake Hill Road and look for the trailhead to the right of Iron Horse Boulevard; turn left here to rejoin the corridor.
The trail continues north, paralleling the boulevard and passing Drake Hill Road Park. On a crisp fall day with a youth soccer game in progress, the colors of changing leaves competing with team uniforms, this stretch is a treat to travel. The trail continues 4 miles to a major break at Wolcott Road.
From here, you can either backtrack to the closest trailhead at Route 315 or, if youre a confident road cyclist, continue to the border. At Wolcott Road, turn right and travel a mile to a three-way intersection. Take another right, go about 100 yards, and turn left on Route 189. The trailhead lies a mile down this road on your right. (Note: The train depot on the left side of the road is a private home.) From here, the trail continues 4 miles to the Massachusetts border.
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Parking & Trail Access:
To reach the southern trailhead on the Yale campus, take Interstate 91 to Exit 3/Trumbull Street. Drive straight on Trumbull for three blocks to Hillhouse Avenue and look for on-street or garage parking. On weekends and after 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, Yales parking lots are open to the public for free.
To reach the Cheshire trailhead, take Interstate 691 to Exit 3 and head south on State Route 10/Highland Avenue through town. Turn right on Cornwall Avenue and proceed to the trailhead and adjacent parking. To drive to the southern access point, leave Route 15 (Wilbur Cross Parkway) at Exit 60 and drive north on Route 10 (Dixwell Avenue) for a quarter mile. Take the first entrance to the mall on your right and proceed to the large parking lot on the south side of the mall, which is adjacent to the trail.
To reach the West Main Street trailhead, take Interstate 691 to Exit 3 and head north on State Route 10/South Main Street to West Main. Turn left on West Main and proceed to the trailhead parking area.
To reach the southern trailhead in Farmington, take Interstate 84 to Exit 38 (from the south) or Exit 39 (from the north). Once in town, drive a mile west of Route 10 on Meadow Road to Tunxis Meade Park. (The first asphalt trail to the right of Meadow Road isn't the rail-trail, but a wonderful spur to the center of historic Farmington, whose museums and colonial architecture are worth a side trip.)
To reach the State Route 315 trailhead, take I-84 to Exit 38 (from the south) or 39 (from the north). Once in Farmington, head north on Route 10 through Avon and Simsbury. The Route 315 trailhead parking area lies 2 miles beyond the Iron Horse Boulevard trailhead.
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By elmarubtc on November 09, 2009
The final unpaved CT section of this trail from MM 21.6 to the MA State Line at MM 22.0 is no longer unpaved. Also Simsbury has completely repaved the bike trail section of Iron Horse Blvd. Iron Horse was previously paved but had so many cracks that it was not very bike user friendly. That has now been remedied. With these 2 additional trail improvements there is now an approximately 14 mile section of the northern end of the trail that is completely off-road, completely paved, and virtually flat. This section extends from the intersection of Iron Horse Blvd. & Drake Hill Road in Simsbury to the current northern terminus of the paved trail at Point Grove Road in Southwick, MA. This 14 mile stretch also has only 6 road crossings, none of which are particularly busy. As I said before this particlular section of the trail may be the single safest, easiest, and most comfortable continuous stretch of this type length in the entire New England section of the East Coast Greenway.
By pausau on November 01, 2009
Complementing the completion of the northernmost section of the trail in Connecticut is the official dedication of a half-mile section of trail in New Haven which links the previous New Haven and Hamden sections to create a continuous off-road paved trail over 14 miles long from the Yale campus to near the center of Cheshire. The new section is in a very urban area but is lined with large trees making it quite attractive. Just be aware that there are 11 street crossings in less than a mile between Morse and Division streets.
By elmarubtc on October 14, 2009
It has been mentioned in two of the reviews of the trail that the bridges were dropped to connect the Suffield portion of the trail to the Massachusetts state line. However the trail map has not been updated to show that the actual paved section of the trail extends at least 3 miles further north than what is being currently shown. This section is all newly paved with a yellow center line and now extends to a tunnel that goes under Point Grove Road in Southwick, MA. This is a very nice section that heading north goes past the Congamond Lakes on your right and Edgewood Country Club on your left. A very short detour to your right at Rt.168 in Southwick will give you a great view of the Congamond Lakes. There are no mile markers up yet on any of this new section but my estimate is that the trail now goes 3.5 miles further north beyond the last existing 21.6 mile marker in Suffield. As has been previously noted the section north of the now current Point Grove Road terminus is expected to extend another 6 miles by this time next year.
Just a side note for the over 50 crowd like me. Now that the Simsbury frost heaves have been repaired and the bridges dropped connecting CT & MA, there is an approximate 13.5 mile one way section of this trail that is probably one of the safest and easiest sections of this kind of length in all of New England. If you park in the Simsbury municipal parking lot at the intersection of Iron Horse Boulevard and Wilcox St., pick up the trail on Iron Horse Boulevard and go all the way to the Point Grove Road terminus you can now go a round trip distance of 27 miles on a trail that is 99.8% (soon to be 100%) paved and virtually flat. An added bonus to this section is that with the possible exception of the trail intersection with Rt.20/Turkey Hills Road in Granby, there is very little cross traffic from Iron Horse Boulevard all the way to Point Grove Road, and there is not a single instance where you have to leave the bike path for any road travel.
There is stiil time this Fall to explore this section of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail but if you don't get a chance to do it this year I highly recommend putting it on your calendar for the first warm Spring weekend of 2010.