Explore the best rated trails in Colchester, CT. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Windsor River Trail and Stillwater Scenic Walkway. With more than 55 trails covering 382 miles you’re bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
At the turn of the 20th century, Groton & Stonington Railway Company began to move passengers between Groton to Mystic via electric trolleys. But in 25 years, the line had been discontinued due to...
The Cheney Rail Trail follows part of the corridor of the South Manchester Railroad, built by the Cheney brothers in 1869. The line was a 2.5-mile spur from the main Hartford, Providence, and Fishkill...
This shared-use path was built as part of the improvement of NY State Route 347 in Suffolk County. SR 347 is a 15-mile arterial between Hauppauge and Port Jefferson, and the trail is envisioned to...
A part of Connecticut's first bus rapid transit line, the CTfastrak Trail serves as recreational and multi-use path for walking and bicycling between Downtown New Britain and Newington Junction. The...
The Hartford Riverwalk is a charming network of paved pathways for cyclists and pedestrians that runs along the banks of the Connecticut River through the state capital. The trail provides an off-road...
First a canal, then a railroad, and now a trail define the history of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail. Completed segments span Connecticut south to north, from New Haven to the Massachusetts...
The Columbia Greenway Rail Trail offers just over 2 miles of paved, tree-lined pathway through Westfield in southwestern Massachusetts. The trail runs from Main Street, across the Great River Bridge...
The West Warwick Riverwalk is located in a park just behind West Warwick High School and John F. Deering Middle School. The paved trail goes for about a mile north following the Pawtuxet River. A...
The Stratton Brook State Park Trail presents a great way to work up an appetite for a picnic at Stratton Brook State Park, the first state park in Connecticut to be entirely wheelchair accessible. The...
The Southwick Rail Trail extends from the Massachusetts–Connecticut state line north to the Westfield town line and connects to the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail. Along the way, it travels through...
The Phenix-Harris Riverwalk, a short trail built on a former rail bed purchased from Penn Central Railroad, connects West Warwick and Coventry, two towns on the outskirts of Providence. The dirt...
Burrillville Bike Path runs for just over a mile through its namesake rural community in northwest Rhode Island. It connects the villages of Pascoag and Harrisville through a corridor that once...
The Washington Secondary Bike Path offers just over 19 miles of paved trail from Cranston (Providence’s southwestern neighbor) to Coventry. The rail-trail, Rhode Island’s longest, follows the former...
The Fred Lippitt Woonasquatucket River Greenway provides a valuable crosstown connector of nearly 7 miles from downtown Providence to the city’s western neighborhoods and the nearby town of Johnston....
The Massachusetts Central Railroad was destroyed by a hurricane in 1938, but the 104-mile corridor is being reborn as a cross-state rail-trail. Currently, nearly 40 miles from Boston to Northampton...
The Connecticut River Walk and Bikeway, which will one day run 21 miles along the river, currently has two open segments. The longest stretches 3.7 miles from the Chicopee town line to the South End...
The Pequonnock River Trail is not a name you will see on the ground along this developing trail in southwestern Connecticut. Formalized in 2001 by the state, the regional trail pieced together...
The Charter Oak Greenway offers more than 16 miles of paved pathway through Hartford and its eastern suburbs. At first glance, the trail looks as if it is simply a highway side path, but the journey...
When complete, Connecticut’s Shoreline Greenway Trail will be a scenic 25-mile route through four quaint New England towns off Long Island Sound. From Lighthouse Point to Hammonasset Beach State Park,...
The Westville Lake Community Trail offers a short, scenic excursion along the east bank of Westville Lake in Southbridge. Much of the crushed-stone pathway is under a lush tree canopy. Along the way,...
The Quinebaug River Trail exists in two segments in northwest Connecticut. The northern section parallels Park Road and Tracy Road for about 2 miles in an industrial section of Putnam with few trail...
The Cheney Rail Trail follows part of the corridor of the South Manchester Railroad, built by the Cheney brothers in 1869. The line was a 2.5-mile spur from the main Hartford, Providence, and Fishkill...
The Middlebury Greenway provides a paved, off-road option for a self-propelled journey across suburban Middlebury. The trail touches on several business districts and parks, ending at an amusement...
Imagine a wealthy 19th-century textile mill owner building an 8-mile railroad to get coal to his plant or products to market, and then adding accommodations to carry vacationers to beach resorts or...
The Redstone Rail Trail is built on the former New York, New Haven & Hartford Armory Branch, which in turn is a former branch line of the New York & New England RR. Its name comes from the numerous...
First a canal, then a railroad, and now a trail define the history of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail. Completed segments span Connecticut south to north, from New Haven to the Massachusetts...
This shared-use path was built as part of the improvement of NY State Route 347 in Suffolk County. SR 347 is a 15-mile arterial between Hauppauge and Port Jefferson, and the trail is envisioned to...
The Quinnipiac River Gorge Trail is a 1.3-mile rail-trail in Meridan, Connecticut. The trail occupies the former railbed of the Meriden, Waterbury & Connecticut River Railroad, a 17-mile line which...
A part of Connecticut's first bus rapid transit line, the CTfastrak Trail serves as recreational and multi-use path for walking and bicycling between Downtown New Britain and Newington Junction. The...
Riverpoint Park sits nestled into a bend of the Pawtuxet River in West Warwick, Rhode Island. The park accommodates the 400-ft arboretum which leads to 1.3-mile riverside path known as the Senator...
The Southwick Rail Trail extends from the Massachusetts–Connecticut state line north to the Westfield town line and connects to the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail. Along the way, it travels through...
Where a trolley once ran, now you can too on the south bank of the Mattabessett River. The electrified trolley shuttled passengers from Berlin to Middletown and beyond. The smooth blacktop and an easy...
The Putnam River Trail extends between Arch Street in the Putnam District and Providence Street to the south. The trail follows the east bank of the Quinebaug River between the river and Kennedy...
The Stratton Brook State Park Trail presents a great way to work up an appetite for a picnic at Stratton Brook State Park, the first state park in Connecticut to be entirely wheelchair accessible. The...
The Air Line State Park Trail winds nearly 55 miles from the northeast corner of Connecticut, where the state borders Massachusetts, down to East Hampton in the heart of the state. The pathway is...
Burrillville Bike Path runs for just over a mile through its namesake rural community in northwest Rhode Island. It connects the villages of Pascoag and Harrisville through a corridor that once...
The Southern New England Trunk Line Trail (aka the "SNETT") was designated as a National Recreation Trail in 1994. It is built upon a segment of the former right-of-way of the New Haven Railroad's...
The Massachusetts Central Railroad was destroyed by a hurricane in 1938, but the 104-mile corridor is being reborn as a cross-state rail-trail. Currently, nearly 40 miles from Boston to Northampton...
The Branford Trolley Trail is essentially a long footbridge occupying an old bridge along the route of an abandoned trolley track. The bridge links nature trails on both sides of the water through a...
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The Rockville Spur, a section of Vernon Rails-to-Trails, is a stone-dust rail-trail stretching 4.2 miles into the heart of historical Rockville. The trail begins on Warren Avenue in Vernon, but you’ll...
The Phenix-Harris Riverwalk, a short trail built on a former rail bed purchased from Penn Central Railroad, connects West Warwick and Coventry, two towns on the outskirts of Providence. The dirt...
A part of Connecticut's first bus rapid transit line, the CTfastrak Trail serves as recreational and multi-use path for walking and bicycling between Downtown New Britain and Newington Junction. The...
The Hartford Riverwalk is a charming network of paved pathways for cyclists and pedestrians that runs along the banks of the Connecticut River through the state capital. The trail provides an off-road...
The Columbia Greenway Rail Trail offers just over 2 miles of paved, tree-lined pathway through Westfield in southwestern Massachusetts. The trail runs from Main Street, across the Great River Bridge...
The South Spencer Rail Trail runs for less than 2 miles from downtown Spencer to an area south of town near Spencer State Forest. The path, which is also known as the Depot Trail, occupies a former...
The Branford Trolley Trail is essentially a long footbridge occupying an old bridge along the route of an abandoned trolley track. The bridge links nature trails on both sides of the water through a...
It’s hard to pick a favorite season to experience the Hop River State Park Trail, set amid the dense forests of Eastern Connecticut. Sections of the 20-mile rail-trail dive through steep rock cuts...
The Chicopee Center Canal Walk offers a short pleasant route in Chicopee, a small city on the outskirts of Springfield in southern Massachusetts. The pathway closely follows the slow-moving canal and...
The Quinnipiac River Gorge Trail is a 1.3-mile rail-trail in Meridan, Connecticut. The trail occupies the former railbed of the Meriden, Waterbury & Connecticut River Railroad, a 17-mile line which...
The Washington Secondary Bike Path offers just over 19 miles of paved trail from Cranston (Providence’s southwestern neighbor) to Coventry. The rail-trail, Rhode Island’s longest, follows the former...
The Connecticut River Walk and Bikeway, which will one day run 21 miles along the river, currently has two open segments. The longest stretches 3.7 miles from the Chicopee town line to the South End...
The Qunnipiac Linear Trail is an easy multipurpose path in Wallingford, Connecticut. The trail skirts Community Lake while traveling a heavily wooded corridor along the Quinnipiac River. It is one of...
Burrillville Bike Path runs for just over a mile through its namesake rural community in northwest Rhode Island. It connects the villages of Pascoag and Harrisville through a corridor that once...
The Hanover Pond Trail is a mile-long rail-trail in Meriden, Connecticut offering scenic natural escape combined with historical exploration. The smooth asphalt trail is open to a diverse range of...
The Charter Oak Greenway offers more than 16 miles of paved pathway through Hartford and its eastern suburbs. At first glance, the trail looks as if it is simply a highway side path, but the journey...
The Middlebury Greenway provides a paved, off-road option for a self-propelled journey across suburban Middlebury. The trail touches on several business districts and parks, ending at an amusement...
The overall goal of the Grand Trunk Trail in south-central Massachusetts is to connect the communities of Brimfield, Sturbridge, and Southbridge by trail. Currently, two sections of the trail are...
The Southwick Rail Trail extends from the Massachusetts–Connecticut state line north to the Westfield town line and connects to the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail. Along the way, it travels through...
When complete, Connecticut’s Shoreline Greenway Trail will be a scenic 25-mile route through four quaint New England towns off Long Island Sound. From Lighthouse Point to Hammonasset Beach State Park,...
The Windsor River Trail is a paved trail along the Connecticut River in Windsor Meadows State Park. The trail begins at the state park’s parking lot on E Barber St. The Captain John Bissell Trail,...
Started my run from the Home goods location and it was pretty easy to get on the bath. Park in the main lot, Take the road that leads around back to the left of the store and there is a foot path that connects you. When starting from this location the path is longer than what is said on the official length. I’d say it more like 3.5-4 miles. Other that that its a beautiful trail the brings you all the way to the water front.
We started at Tait road entrance around 4:30 pm. Path was leafy but dry and good with great views.
This asphalt bike path has a one fairly large hill and seemed longer than 1.6 miles. Very quiet and low volume bike path. As mentioned, there are easy off-shoots to the Hayley Farm dirt trails and Bluff Point trails. With all of connecting trails we were able to amass a 10-mile ride. Instead of parking in the Midway Oval neighborhood cul-de-sac, you can park at Hayley Farm or Bluff Point - the bike path can be accessed from both spots but the Hayley Farm trail can be rocky in parts. From Bluff Point the path can be reached two ways: first way is passing by the port-o-lets on the left and riding east all the way to the foot bridge over the train tracks - the bike path starts/ends here. Second way is by riding out of Bluff Point back towards RT 1, after passing under the railroad trestle bridge - turn right onto Industrial Drive and into the industrial park. Take this road about 500 yards and on the left will be a a short dirt path that connects to the Midway Oval cul-de-sac.
Why am I the first one reviewing this lovely path? On Wed Sept 09, 2020 I rode here with beautiful weather 70F and dry. Both sides of the Connecticut river with the City of Hartford on the west are connected by several bridges, but the best is the Veteran's bridge. There are many sculptures everywhere.
Go. Enjoy the lovely scenery and the city.
Wednesday afternoon, September 16, 2020
Weather: 70' and hazy
I rode most of this trail and the river walk sculpture park in the City of Hartford. It was enjoyable, but my biggest complaint is the utter lack of signage at trail end points. If this is part of the East Coast Greenway, going from Maine to Florida, you currently need to bring directions or a map when leaving a proper trail and moving through roadways. I have Google Maps on my phone, so I could find my way, but....
The Hartford city section along the river was the best part for me. Then I had to put my bike back in the car and go to a park in Manchester to resume the ride. First I went west toward where I left off in Hartford, but turned around at the Manchester Community College and went all the way east to the end. It seems like a continual hill upward, but of course coming back was all downhill and much quicker. Right next to busy roads and highways, it is a noisy trail.
The surface is quite nice. There are no bad off-road paved trails, only good ones and better ones. This is a good one and I am glad I rode it once, but would not return.
I've logged about 20k miles of road biking across the United States namely in WA, MO, OH, PA, MD and FL, and maybe 10% of that on trails. To get to stay 99% of the time on a car-free trail for almost 50 miles (as a loop) is rare- and to have some scenery- is nearly unheard of. Thrilled to be in CT now and using this as my go-to ride.
We rode this trail on 9/12/20, starting at the parking lot on route 63.
Overall, a nice trail, but it has a lot of plusses but also some things that could be considered “minuses” by some.
Plus:
Shaded, pretty sections high over the adjoining forest.
Some nice scenery including horse farms (and horses share the trail, we passed several), plus several ponds. Route goes through the woods the whole way…very little in the way of passes through suburbia.
Not crowded.
Not a huge number of road crossings, and typically with good sight lines.
No big hills, some gradual ups and downs.
Minuses:
Most of the train is hard packed dirt or stone dust that makes for a good surface. However, there are significant sections that are a bit rougher. Some of the road crossings involve a downhill, cross the road, and then an uphill…often with a lot of stone or sand involved. There is a section around mile 8-9(when going West) where the trail follows something like a creek bed, with large stones that make it problematic (we walked this section). There are some embedded stones along the way so you have to watch where you’re going and steer around them..or even walk briefly. Some sections do have some drainage issues, so just need to be careful there. And parts of the trail become more like singletrack. We were able to navigate the entire route with our mountain/trail bikes (30 or 32 cc tires)…I would not recommend a conventional skinny tire road bike here.
Please don’t think the minuses outnumber the plusses here. Overall I recommend this trail because it’s pretty and ridable. Maps are available at the Connecticut DEP website.
Finally I recommend starting at the Naugatuck route 63 parking area…several other posters have noted that there’s basically no parking if you start in Southbury.
Check out the Air Line trail and the Hop River trail, not too far away in central Connecticut, for other options you may want to try.
Heading south toward the Colchester spur, the map shows a fork in the path that veers off to the left. This doesn’t exit. You have to continue down an take a real left. There’s a sign.
Beautiful views of the river. Asphalt walk/bike way. Ranger on duty at Great River Park boat launch/parking area.
End to end and back is a nice walk pick a time later in the day less people. Flat good starting walk for beginners before taking on trails. Year round good walk
This was a lovely, but popular walk. The only issue is that all but one small car park has been closed to non-local residents due to COVID. So unless you have a parking permit, you’ll need to head to Palace Street where there are a small number of metered parking spaces.
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