Find the top rated cross country skiing trails in New London, whether you're looking for an easy short cross country skiing trail or a long cross country skiing trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a cross country skiing trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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My wife and I ride (e-bikes) this once a year or so. Today (Monday mid-May) was the first we experienced some new bridges eliminating previously awkward and annoying sections. The trail is paved and has wildlife, the bay, a troll sculpture, several bike shops and some eateries along the way. It has always been a go to for us but even more so now. We also did an extra 6 road (rt) miles to check out Roger Williams University. A gem of a trail.
Rode from Avon, CT to Westfield, MA. Mass section in great shape. CT section is awful. Pavement is split, constant 'ka-thunk', pot holes not marked, just horrendous condition. Where is the CT DOT and our tax dollars? Stay away.
Why has this trail not been plowed?? It has been snowed over since December.
This trail needs open parking spaces! Most of the parking spots are blocked off!
don't see bathroom in the parking lot
This is a multi use bike trail for everyone to enjoy.
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.
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