Niantic, CT Running Trails and Maps

829 Reviews

Looking for the best Running trails around Niantic?

Find the top rated running trails in Niantic, whether you're looking for an easy short running trail or a long running trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a running trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.

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Activities
Length
Surfaces
Type
42 Results
Activities
Length
Surfaces
Type

Air Line State Park Trail

60.3 mi
State: CT
Ballast, Crushed Stone, Dirt, Gravel

Bloomfield Greenway Multi-Use Trail

1.8 mi
State: CT
Asphalt

Branford Trolley Trail

0.6 mi
State: CT
Concrete, Crushed Stone, Gravel

Farmington Canal Heritage Trail

47.6 mi
State: CT
Asphalt

Farmington River Trail

16.5 mi
State: CT
Asphalt, Concrete, Crushed Stone

Hanover Pond Trail

1 mi
State: CT
Asphalt

Hartford Riverwalk

1.7 mi
State: CT
Asphalt

Hop River State Park Trail

20 mi
State: CT
Crushed Stone

Mattabassett Trolley Trail

2.9 mi
State: CT
Asphalt

North Shore Rail Trail

10 mi
State: NY
Asphalt

Phenix-Harris Riverwalk

0.3 mi
State: RI
Dirt

Quinebaug River Trail

4.8 mi
State: CT
Asphalt

Quinebaug Valley Rail Trail

5.7 mi
State: MA
Ballast, Cinder, Dirt, Grass

Quinnipiac River Gorge Trail

1.3 mi
State: CT
Asphalt

Quonset Point Bike Path

2.5 mi
State: RI
Asphalt

Washington Secondary Bike Path

19.2 mi
State: RI
Asphalt

William C. O'Neill Bike Path

7.2 mi
State: RI
Asphalt

Windsor River Trail

0.8 mi
State: CT
Asphalt

CTfastrak Multi-Use Trail

4.4 mi
State: CT
Asphalt, Concrete

Captain John Bissell Trail

4.5 mi
State: CT
Asphalt
Accordion

Charter Oak Greenway

16.6 mi
State: CT
Asphalt

Cheney Rail Trail

1.7 mi
State: CT
Crushed Stone

G & S Trolley trail

1.6 mi
State: CT
Asphalt, Crushed Stone

JAYCEE Arboretum & Senator Roch Riverwalk

1.3 mi
State: RI
Asphalt, Dirt, Gravel

Larkin State Park Trail

10.8 mi
State: CT
Cinder, Crushed Stone, Dirt, Gravel

Middlebury Greenway

4.5 mi
State: CT
Asphalt

Niantic Bay Boardwalk

1.1 mi
State: CT
Boardwalk, Concrete, Gravel

Putnam River Trail

2 mi
State: CT
Asphalt

Quinnipiac Linear Trail

2.1 mi
State: CT
Asphalt, Gravel

Savin Rock Trail

1.2 mi
State: CT
Asphalt, Concrete

Shoreline Greenway Trail

4.1 mi
State: CT
Crushed Stone, Dirt

Arkwright Riverwalk

0.8 mi
State: RI
Dirt, Woodchips

Derby Greenway

1.97 mi
State: CT
Asphalt, Dirt

Stratton Brook State Park Trail

1.2 mi
State: CT
Asphalt, Cinder, Crushed Stone

Moosup Valley State Park Trail

5.8 mi
State: CT
Ballast, Crushed Stone, Dirt, Grass, Gravel, Sand

Naugatuck River Greenway

7.4 mi
State: CT
Asphalt

Trolley Trail (CT)

0.75 mi
State: CT
Asphalt

Middletown Westlake Area Bikeway

2.2 mi
State: CT
Asphalt

URI Bike Path

2 mi
State: RI
Asphalt
Trail Image Trail Name States Length Surface Rating
Overview The Air Line State Park Trail winds 60.3 miles from the northeast corner of Connecticut, where the state borders Massachusetts, down to East Hampton in the heart of the state. The pathway...
CT 60.3 mi Ballast, Crushed Stone, Dirt, Gravel
Bloomfield Greenway Multi-Use Trail is 1.8 miles between Bloomfield and Simsbury. The trail is envisioned to someday act as a connector between the City of Hartford and the Farmington Canal Heritage...
CT 1.8 mi Asphalt
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...
CT 0.6 mi Concrete, Crushed Stone, Gravel
Overview First a canal, then a railroad, and now a trail defines the history of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail. Completed segments span Connecticut south to north, from New Haven to the...
CT 47.6 mi Asphalt
Overview A dozen miles west of Connecticut’s capital of Hartford, the Farmington River Trail forms a 16.5-mile arc that connects to the larger Farmington Canal Heritage Trail on both ends. The...
CT 16.5 mi Asphalt, Concrete, Crushed Stone
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...
CT 1 mi Asphalt
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...
CT 1.7 mi Asphalt
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...
CT 20 mi Crushed Stone
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...
CT 2.9 mi Asphalt
The North Shore Rail Trail, formerly known as the Rails to Trails Recreational Path, is a 10-mile multi-use recreational path and runs along the former Wading River railway corridor in Brookhaven—the...
NY 10 mi Asphalt
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...
RI 0.3 mi Dirt
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...
CT 4.8 mi Asphalt
The Quinebaug Valley Rail Trail runs on the corridor once occupied by the Southbridge & Blackstone line of the Providence & Worcester Railroad, transforming a corridor once designed to link rural...
MA 5.7 mi Ballast, Cinder, Dirt, Grass
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...
CT 1.3 mi Asphalt
Beginning from Calf Pasture Point Beach, the Quonset Point Bike Path offers a short-but-sweet path across North Kingstown on Rhode Island's eastern coastline. The 2.5-mile paved pathway is ideal for...
RI 2.5 mi Asphalt
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...
RI 19.2 mi Asphalt
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...
RI 7.2 mi Asphalt
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,...
CT 0.8 mi Asphalt
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...
CT 4.4 mi Asphalt, Concrete
The Bissell name looms large in this part of New England, and has been immortalized in multiple ways, including the Bissell Ferry, the Bissell Memorial Bridge and now, the Captain John Bissell trail,...
CT 4.5 mi Asphalt
Accordion
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...
CT 16.6 mi Asphalt
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...
CT 1.7 mi Crushed Stone
The EPCAL Alternative Transportation Path loops around the 2,900-acre Enterprise Park at Calverton (hence its name: EPCAL) on New York’s Long Island and links to the Town of Riverhead’s 65-acre...
NY 8.5 mi Asphalt
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...
CT 1.6 mi Asphalt, Crushed Stone
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...
RI 1.3 mi Asphalt, Dirt, Gravel
The Larkin State Park Trail meanders 10.8 miles through the woods and around the lakes and low hills of southwestern Connecticut. The rail-trail follows the route of the New York & New England...
CT 10.8 mi Cinder, Crushed Stone, Dirt, Gravel
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...
CT 4.5 mi Asphalt
Bookended by beaches and offering gorgeous vistas of Niantic Bay, the Niantic Bay Boardwalk is a must-do excursion in the small Connecticut village of Niantic, part of the larger Town of East Lyme....
CT 1.1 mi Boardwalk, Concrete, Gravel
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...
CT 2 mi Asphalt
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...
CT 2.1 mi Asphalt, Gravel
The Savin Rock Trail offers just over a mile of paved pathway along West Haven’s coastline. Along the way, you’ll enjoy picturesque views of Long Island Sound and access to its sandy beaches. The west...
CT 1.2 mi Asphalt, Concrete
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,...
CT 4.1 mi Crushed Stone, Dirt
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...
CT 4.2 mi Crushed Stone, Dirt
Note: Per the State of Connecticut's website, the trail is open from dawn to dusk April 1–November 14. Eagle nesting activities can delay the opening of the southern trail head in Windsor...
CT 5.4 mi Asphalt
The Arkwright Riverwalk, founded on a former rail bed purchased from Penn Central Railroad, is located in Coventry, a rural central Rhode Island town that was built around textile mills. The one-mile...
RI 0.8 mi Dirt, Woodchips
Overview Running alongside both the Housatonic and Naugatuck Rivers, the Derby Greenway demonstrates a seamless integration of Connecticut’s natural river systems and parks with man-made...
CT 1.97 mi Asphalt, Dirt
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...
CT 1.2 mi Asphalt, Cinder, Crushed Stone
This 5.8-mile trail is part of the planned East Coast Greenway, an off-road path that will eventually run from Calais, Maine, to Key West, Florida. The Moosup Valley State Park Trail will connect with...
CT 5.8 mi Ballast, Crushed Stone, Dirt, Grass, Gravel, Sand
The Naugatuck River Greenway will one day span 44 miles from Torrington to Derby in western Connecticut, but is currently open in a few short, disconnected segments totaling just over 7 miles. The...
CT 7.4 mi Asphalt
The Trolley Trail runs through Plainfield and is a key link the East Coast Greenway. Plans are to use this trail as a link between the Moosup Valley State Park Trail and the Airline State Park...
CT 0.75 mi Asphalt
Over 2 miles from start to finish, this U-shaped trail meets both the commuting and the recreational needs of local residents in Middletown. The trail begins on Middle St, marked by a trailhead with a...
CT 2.2 mi Asphalt
The URI (University of Rhode Island) Bike Path provides a safe conduit for students, faculty and staff to commute to and from school via the William C. O'Neill Bike Path. The asphalt, two-lane path...
RI 2 mi Asphalt

Recent Trail Reviews

Hartford Riverwalk

peaceful walk

February, 2024 by karencoaletracey

I stopped on Wednesday on my way home to walk my dog. Very quiet during the week and a lovely walk if you like to listen to the water from the Connecticut river flowing by. You can see where the river has flooded, read the various historical statue plaques.

Bloomfield Greenway Multi-Use Trail

Extension to Tariffville is complete

November, 2023 by bcgp

A sidepath has been constructed adjacent to Route 189 to Main St in Tariffville. Trail is now about 3 miles long. It will be designated as part of the East Coast Greenway and is visible on Google Street View.

Farmington River Trail

Farmington River Trail

November, 2023 by thejake91739

After reading many of the mixed reviews for this trail on TrailLink, I decided to keep my ride short but sweet by restricting it to what seemed to be the most picturesque - the portion between the historic Unionville train depot and the Riverside Nursery and Garden Center in Collinsville.

This part of the trail contains breathtaking views of the officially deemed wild and scenic Farmington River. In addition, since I did this in mid October, the river was a perfect reflecting glass for the amazing fall colors.

My ride was only a total of twelve miles out and back, but I now have the most perfect photos, videos, and memories of this Connecticut treasure!

The bike ride is easy and mostly flat with lots of locals getting their steps in and exercising their dogs. Surprisingly, I only encountered two other bicyclists on my early weekday morning ride.



Accordion

Air Line State Park Trail

Hard packed surface

October, 2023 by sbridges7272

We love biking the Airline and have used non electric hybrid bikes as well as e-bikes. Both work well. On 10/28/2023 we biked the section from Willimantic parking at the Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum area and pedaled to Rt. 207 Lebanon Rd, Amston, CT. FYI, we're in our 60s and encountered no difficulties with the terrain.

Washington Secondary Bike Path

The path is nice and cool in the summer due to lots of shade. Much of it has large sections of big tree roots, though.

October, 2023 by csebetes

The path is nice and cool in the summer due to lots of shade. Much of it has large sections of big tree roots, though.

CTfastrak Multi-Use Trail

very quiet road

October, 2023 by cvt5szrnsg

Nice quiet ride to take time to enjoy these beautiful days.

West Warwick Riverwalk

Abandoned Trail

September, 2023 by ahmadlatif9504

This trail is pretty much abandoned and mislabeled in the site description.
I went here expecting it to be asphalt like it says in the description, I intended to rollerblade it. Instead, I decided to walk it. The path is dirt and very much abandoned. It would be a very nice path after some updates and repair. It still gave a very nice view of the waterfall at the end of the path.

William C. O'Neill Bike Path

Beautiful and Shaded

September, 2023 by 2k7cgws6nh

Gorgeous and very well kept trail. Very shady! We started at the Amtrak Station. Beautiful ride all the way to the end. Took the left at the end down to The Towers and Narragansett Beach. We had wonderful lunch at the Coast Guard House. Great view! Helps to have a reservation but we were able to get in.

CTfastrak Multi-Use Trail

Good for transportation and exercise, not all that scenic

August, 2023 by sjwang40

I think folks have to temper their expectations. This isn't the Farmington Canal Trail and isn't trying to be. This is a nice, well paved track for exercise and actual transportation. It provides a bike link from Newington and the southern end of West Hartford to downtown New Britain that previously didn't exist. For that I'm super happy. West Hartford has a decent bike network that connects into Hartford, so now there is a semi-cohesive bike network that spans from downtown Hartford all the way to New Britain with stops in between. New Britain is booming (by New Britain standards) so there's actually a lot to visit at the end of the trail, like the art museum, breweries, restaurants, etc. I wish the Multi-Use Trail extended all the way to the Elmwood or even Hartford stops, but it's useful the way it is now. It's not all that scenic but there's still a decent amount of greenery and it's pleasant to ride. It's next to the busway and train tracks, but the train is relatively far away, and the buses are not noisy or especially polluting (they are hybrids).

North Shore Rail Trail

Nice ride, many intersections

August, 2023 by ih8rain1

This is a nice bike ride. The trail is well paved and very level. Not many other riders/hikers. The unavoidable intersections are very disruptive if you are riding for a steady fast pace or for a strenuous workout. Also not much shade. But if you are biking or walking for an enjoyable bit of exercise, it can't be beat for this area.

Windsor Locks Canal State Park Trail

Not for road bikes

August, 2023 by tdufore

This has the potential to be a special path with unobstructed views of the Connecticut river and distanced from development by the canal. Truly a touch of wilderness. Excellent access. Will be a favorite when it is repaved. Now it is just too bumpy. Maybe in the near future? Then it will be five stars. In the meantime, if you have the right bike or like to walk, this trail is magical.

Charter Oak Greenway

WTF! A guy with a full blown motorcycle! And a golf cart rider around MCC.

August, 2023 by 695look

WTF! A guy with a full blown motorcycle! And a golf cart rider around MCC.

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