Find the top rated birding trails in Hartford, whether you're looking for an easy short birding trail or a long birding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a birding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
We enjoyed this short path to cap off the weekend after having ridden in the cape. Loved the train stop building, wish you could go in and read up and see pictures of the history; instead they had picture signs dotting the ride. Also there were some stone benches along the way and a bike shop I’d say at the halfway point. We saw bunnies too.
I rode this trail on 7/12/19 from Moosup, CT east into Sterling, CT. The first 5 1/2 miles are unimproved rail trail, good for MT bikes or aggressive hybrid riders. At the route 14A crossing I found some improvements underway, 1.5 miles of bull dozer work to a bridge under construction just past Carbuncle Pond WMA. The surface was soft and broken and very hard to ride. This leads me to believe that Road Island has a project underway to extend the Trestle Trail from Log Bridge Road (the current end) westerly to just west of the CT line at Route 14A. I will explore the area in the late fall to see how work has progressed. There is a second bridge in the Village of Green, RI that needs work, but I did not get that far.
Tuesday July 09, 2019, 5:30 pm.
Weather 88' F, low humidity, very light clouds.
Great weather for riding this great trail. Massachusetts really sets the bar for bike trails. This one has a line down the middle to help the careless riders better their performance. There are benches near view spots with poems and examples of flora and fauna carved into boulders. There are granite mile markers on both poles and pavement stones at the side of the trail. The pavement was very smooth and there are only some slight inclines. Tunnels and bridges, a variety of scenery, this is both a community trail and a destination trail. I drove 2.5 hours for this one and the much shorter Canalside trail a half hour away in Turner Falls, doing both on the same day with a mid-trip visit to the Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls. All 3 places worth the trip, but now I have to complete the other sections of the Mass Central Greenway. Good job Massachusetts!
I parked at 15 Spring Lake Road in Sterling. A very brief portion is paved, up to the bike overpass, then its mogul after mogul. Great for mountain biking, not so much for hybrid or road biking. Sand, gravel, muddy bits...unkept. Beautiful area, share the trail with dirt bikes and at atvs either direction.
We biked south to north from Wassaic to Millertown(?)....a great way to spend the 4th of July on an absolutely beautiful trail having lunch in the diner then turning around and going back...21 miles felt like 5....
very nice 5 mile trail. great for walking. surface is rather bumpy even on my hybrid. can't beat the views. lots of wildlife.
Long Wharf to Yale is partially on-road, busy and tricky. Agreements with landowners have been completed and future construction will eliminate some of the on-road. 2018 trail completions in Cheshire and Southington make the trail continuous for 23 miles.
The remaining section in Southington is scheduled for construction in 2020. The Plainville section is currently in design. Construction could start in 2021. It might be phased, so construction might be complete in 2024 or later. When the Southington section is complete it will be relatively safe to ride on-road across Plainville.
From Northwest Dr on the Plainville/Farmington border the trail goes continuously to Main St Westfield about 34 miles. A few railroad bridges in Westfield have to be rebuilt to complete the trail to the Westfield River
North of the Westfield River the railroad is active. The best on-road routes include hilly and traffic. In Southampton the trail will be on the abandoned railroad right of way, but the right of way has not yet been purchased.
Getting to the trail in Easthampton requires about 10 miles of on-road. The last 7 miles of the trail to Northampton are complete
We love all of Main St, South Windsor, and it's perfect for a bike ride. I recommend starting at the top of Main St rather than by Chapel Rd as suggested here. It's a sample of old New England with lots of well-maintained vintage homes (including the birthplace of Jonathan Edwards), tobacco barns, fields, & farms. The road itself is a very moderate incline, similar to rails-to-trails. The bike trail alongside I291 is also very easy biking. We only had time to go about halfway on that portion before we needed to head back. An absolutely perfect ride!
We rode this trail on 6/16/19 North from the Tait Road parking lot to its end in Newtown and back, approximately 20 miles total. Almost constantly shaded by trees, very removed from highway traffic, felt like I was in the deep woods at many points. Initial section runs along a ridge and you can look down and see the rivers. Some parts are cinder, some paved, some dirt; there were one or two short sections of gravel; you need a hybrid or a mountain bike (no skinny road bike tires). But overall a very nice ride and worth your time! The section near Tait Road had a number of walkers and families with kids; as we got further north it was much less crowded. As noted, there are several points where you have to cross a road or ride on-road for a short section to get to the next part of the trail, so if you're riding with kids please be aware of this. But we found those sections fairly easy to navigate, even though the signage isn't as good as it could be. There are a few small uphills but they're very short ... just about all flat. Nice to have something like this close to our home in Fairfield County!
This is the 1st trail I rode since started biking 7 years ago. It is still one of my favorites. Close to the north end there is a small town with nice restaurants and a surprisingly good small museum displaying local history. It is well worth a visit.
My wife and I rode our tandem from the Brickyard Rd Trailhead northward to the Phelps Rd Trailhead (just short of the MA line). The route is pretty well marked and the pavement is good. Most of the trail/roadway crossings have pedestrian/cyclist buttons to trigger the traffic warning signals and the cars do stop when they see you standing at the crosswalk.
Regarding places to eat: We only saw a sign for one business along the trail. I recommend doing a google search ahead of time to see what's nearby and plan accordingly.
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (a non-profit) and we need your support!
Map Search
_0_st.jpg)
_139112_st.jpg)
