Great news. the extension into Westfield called the Columbia bikeway is due to go out to bid and parking at the north end near Shaker farm road will be build and open by June. this is the first of three stages and hopefully will be done by 2015. This will when finished bring the Canal trail 3 1/2 miles closer to Southampton.

Rode the trail today from the beginning in Farminton , CT to the 25 mile marker in MA. I was just south of Westfield, MA when I had to turn around for the 50 mile round trip. I was told that I could have continued for at least another 5 miles to the North. I have done a lot of rail trails on the East coast, including the Sliver Comet in Ga. , the Chief Latigia(sic?) in Alabama, the New River trail in VA , and I must say this trail is right up there with those stars. There is plenty of great scenery, a nice smooth surface, quite a bit of shade(for the summer), a lot of places to stop off for a drink(also there are water fountains in parks that the rider goes through) and an adequate number of maps along the way. I would highly recommend this trail to riders looking for a great ride in western MA and CT.

Westfield. the Trail is about 100 yards west of the gulf course and just after you pass munger hill road. It is really on the westerly boundary of the course.

There is some parking at the Shaker Farm entrance. It's dirt and there's enough room for 5 or 6 cars right now. The trail starts out on soft dirt but quickly turns to pavement. Great smooth trail. The only thing I would like to see is the large metal pieces of trash removed from alongside of the trail (truck beds, car doors, bed spring frames), but it does look like it is in piles to be removed soon. Very peaceful ride and we even saw a large crane on one of the ponds.

where on shaker road does the southwick rail trail start exactly?.. i live in westfield and drove by the golf course but didnt really see a place where the trail was. also are there any places to park by the trail? thanks !! :)

The trail has been completed - starting at Shaker Road in Westfield, just up the road from Shaker Golf course. My wife and I road Saturday down to the Newgate reservation in East Granby and back. Weather and the trail were excellent. So happy to have this close to our home. Looking forwarding to building up our endurance and riding all the way toe Farmington, CT.

I believe the above map is a little off. The trail is completed across both ways from Feeding Hills Road now. The only thing that is lacking is there are information booths w/ nothing in them and really no trash areas. Hard to throw away anything, especially when walking dogs. Tons of dogs out there and i see owners are finding it easier to just leave the waste.

Very nice ride today although a bit cold and windy. Started from rt 20 in Grandby and continued up to the end in Westfield. Met a few other bikers and walkers out today braving the weather. The trail is nice and smooth passing by farms, streams and some residential areas. I've now completed the entire canal trail (not in one day, yet) from Yale in New Haven, CT to Westfield, MA. This section is a nice change from my usual routes in Chesire and Farmington. Looking foward to this trail finishing northward to connect with North / East Hampton, which could make for a nice long ride someday. Further dreaming would include Plainville to Farmington and Cheshire north of Cornwall Ave. Congrats to Southwick and Westfield for a job well done.

The trail is now open and done from the Conn. Line 6 1/2 miles to the westfield line. They only have to install a flashing light on Rt. 57. Lots of use and hopefully they will establish more parking area's. Now if Wesfield wil get the money and extend the trail north into town. Plans are for three stages to be done in 2015, but that I will have to see.

Heading South from route 57 you'll find a relatively unexciting trail except for the largest stand of Sumac on right 1/2 mile in. This stand has sumac stands at 100 feet tall with 9" diameter trunks. South of Depot to Congamond Rd follows a golf course and tobacco fields with some nice wetland areas. At the junction of Congamond rRd there is a good refreshment stand on west side of trail " Red Riding Hoods Basket" with coffee, water, sandwiches. continue south through 2-3 miles of scenic wetland. This path follows the "Ice Canal" used for transporting lake ice from the Congamond ponds south. later turned into a RR.
This section is quiet located mostly away from major roads.

9/17/10 I have been riding this trail in over lapping sections. last week East Gramby Ct to Mass Line . Today from Point Grove Rd. to Ct. state line back North to beyond West Sams St. to asphalts end, then back down to Point Grove Rd. a 12.5 mile ride. I have a MAJOR concern, this web site, list Pointe Grove Road as a Trail Head.
If following this site, the parking area is a gravel lot across from the Oak & Keg package store . Point Grove Road goes over the trail and is easly missed, unless looking for a land mark like the package store.
Access to the trail is past a Jersey Barrier then down a very sandy path to you find two more Jersery Barriers then down the hill to the trail. At this point you would be better off going to West Sam Rd and riding south. A Note of intrest at the trail markers are continues from UnionVille Ct at "0" miles and Pointe Grove Rd. at "25" mile marker. There are prsently no marker north of the 25th. The Best part of the is a Icecream/Sandwich shop at the Congamond Rd Crossing.

The second layer of tar is down to the Westfield line now. There is still some landscaping to do and the trail is not officially open yet. I ride this section only on week ends when they are not working. the big problem is parking and right now until some arrangements can be made the only parking is on rt.168 and it is full on week ends and people are using a dirt section most of the time. My understanding is that Westfield will start in 2011 on the first of three stages at the Southwick town line if the money can be found. But that said it is only about 200 yards to Shaker Farms road and you can only park about 2 cars here.

Rode from Farmington up to Mass today (7/22/10), and was surprised to discover the trail was paved all the way to the Westfield line near Shaker Rd. The last few miles were not 'officially' open, but the first layer of asphalt was done and the road crossings graded. I hope Westfield continues the work to the Westfield River (it's ultimate destination) soon.

It has been less than 3 weeks since the Depot Road to Feeding Hills Road section was blacktopped and while riding this trail last night I saw that the next section north of Feeding Hills Road has also been completed. This adds another completed mile to the Southwick Trail and although there is no street sign where the blacktopped trail ends it has to be Sam West Road based on the map. The paved portion of the Southwick Trail now runs 5.3 miles from the CT state line where it connects with the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail, and the actual paved end point of this trail is now almost 2.25 miles beyond what is showing on the current Rails to Trails map.

Paving is complete now from the old end point at the tunnel under Point Grove Road northbound for about 1.15 miles to Feeding Hills Road. (Rt. 57) The paved portion of the Southwick trail is now 4.28 miles long from the CT border where it connects with the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail.

It is now about a 15 mile one way trip on fully paved mostly empty trail with minimal traffic at road intersections from the center of Simsbury, CT to the current end point at Feeding Hills Road.

The Farmington Canal Heritage trail goes another uninterrupted 15 miles south from the center of Simsbury to the Rt.4 parking lot in Farmington, CT. A total of 30 miles one way now from Farmington to Feeding Hills Road in Southwick on fully paved trail that is about 98% off road bike path.

The first stage was dedicated on May 3rd this year and is really a nice bike ride. Even before it was dedicated there was a lot of use by all. This trail actually starts at the Conn. Line and extends North for 3 miles and is tarred to the tunnel at Point Grove Rd. This is stage one of two stages in Southwick. The second stage is being worked on and could be done and tarred by August of 2010. The only parking at this time is at about the middle of the current 3 miles in Mass. and is at the south end of Congamond pond on Rt.168 or Congamond rd. But there is a lot of good parking here, with several places to rest and eat. At the Conn./Mass. line it is a short distance south to some parking on Quarry road in some tobacco fields. There has been some vandalism of cars here so be careful what you leave in view if you park. At the north end of the tarred trail at Point Grove Road the trail goes under the road in a new tunnel and you have to go north on dirt for about 1/2 mile to Depot rd. to find parking. When finished in southwick it will be over 6 miles and connect with the Farmington Canal Rail Trail to the south (22.5 miles into Conn.) and into Westfield on the Columbia Bikeway for an additional 3 miles which could be done in 2015 and is scheduled to start in 2011 at this time.