Explore the best rated trails in New London, CT, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the East Bay Bike Path (RI) and Niantic Bay Boardwalk . With more than 45 trails covering 361 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.
This trail needs open parking spaces! Most of the parking spots are blocked off!
don't see bathroom in the parking lot
Rode a portion from Milldale north to Southington. All paved in fairly decent shape. A few bumps but no broken pavement. At the point in Southington the trail just ends with no information as to where to go. No signs or arrows. The trail picks up somewhere a few miles away but I couldn’t find out how to get there. On the portion I rode it was flat and easy, but not much to see other than woods and backs of buildings.
Was visiting the area and am so happy I got my gravel bike out to do this trail. As others have mentioned, it is very, very well maintained and quite smooth, enabling fast riding (I rode the entire trail as listed). As a former rail, this trail has nice and gradual elevation changes and has cool features like the tunnels and bridges. I'd highly recommend and hope to be back for another spin soon.
Had a great evening bike ride out at the Windsor Locks Canal trail earlier this month (Aug, '25). The trail is paved, and as others have mentioned, it is not super smooth in some areas where the tree roots are pushing the asphalt up but can be navigated pretty easily. I was riding my gravel bike setup with 42mm tires and was able to go quite fast - averaging 15mph on the ride so it really was not that beat up / bad.
The scenery on the river is very nice, and the canal on the other side was also fun - lots of wildlife to see. Would recommend if in the area!
Rode the entire Farmington Canal Heritage Trail as part of a 2 day ride from Northampton to New Haven. What a fabulous experience! So much variety and New England splendor packed into one journey. It was very interesting to see how each of the towns maintained the trail differently. Everything from the paving to the signage changed as you moved from one village to the next. What an amazing treasure!
The claim of this being a 61 mile trail is very deceptive. Almost 40 miles of this trail is nearly unrideable except for mountain bikes (and even that would be unpleasant). We are experience riders and were on hybrid bikes with wide tires and front suspension. And while our plan was to cycle 40 miles from Willimantic to E. Hampton, we only did the first 10 mile section from Willimantic to James L. Goodwin State Forest.
The trail started out as just OK, but deteriorated in less than 2 miles. After crossing S. Brook Rd, the trail the trail was extremely gnarly and super overgrown. When we reached Goodwin State Forest, we were so happy to bail out and call it quits! Luckily, we had a SAG vehicle with us so we weren't forced to cycle back over the same awful trail.
Be warned, the entire trail we rode from Willimantic to Goodwin Forest was large, loose gravel, and the scenery is incredibly boring. There are places where the trail is extremely rough. At S. Brook Rd. the trail becomes unrideable, expect by maybe some die-hard mountain bikers. We used our SAG van to pop into other points along the trail from Goodwin to E. Hampton the trail only seemed to get even worse.
Honestly, just a really unpleasant ride.
We (5) Friends Have Biked This Trail in It’s Sections from E. Hampton to Willimantic for Many Years. We Have Always Considered it to be 4-5 Star Rated, (For a Gravel Trail). Since 2015, We Have Switched to E-Bikes which makes the Trail 3x more FUN !! Having the Best of Both Sun & Shady Sections, It Has Only One small Section of about 300’ Near the Start leaving E.Hampton Where it’s sandy & .Loose
It is such a lovely trail. The view is gorgeous, either from the ocean or from the land. It goes through a few towns, all lovely and friendly. There are shops along the trail for you to stop by for ice cream, coffee or lemonade. There are a few road crossing, but the cars are very friendly and stop to let cyclists cross. The destination Bristol is just beautiful! Some areas are in the open, so the wind can be your friend or not …..
Great trail, ride it frequently with my wife. Good workout for 22 miles. Main issue is not the road crossings; we ride many trails with more crossings than this, but on those, the towns take down the brush and you can see cars approaching the intersections. On this trail, you pretty much have to stop and inch out into the road to see these cars, many of whom are not "impressed" by the flashing yellow lights that you need to push a button for. Many drivers are looking at their phones rather than the road these days. You must appraoach these intersections as if you are invisible. Be safe
It’s a nice paved path, shaded half way through. Good for families with kids. Parking is free but though to find, suggests keep following the path till you find parking. There are several options along the way from the eastern end of the trail. Few food and restroom options, within coffee or mall shops. Public restrooms are very limited at least when starting from east end. We went only half way and back, with kids. Looking forward to finish the second half soon.
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