Find the top rated walking trails in Ware, whether you're looking for an easy short walking trail or a long walking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a walking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
_182873_st.jpg)
The well-maintained Canalside Rail Trail provides users with a variety of trestle bridges, views of waterbirds stalking fish and frogs, and gentle grades that alternate between open sky and forested...
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...
Coming in at just under 3 miles, the Sue Grossman Still River Greenway is anchored by the towns of Winchester to the north and Torrington to the south. It occupies the right-of-way of the Naugatuck...
Appel Way Trail offers a paved route of about a mile through woodlands on the north end of Keene. Most notably, it offers a connection between Wheelock Park on the trail's west end and Ashuelot River...
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 North Central Pathway is envisioned as a trail network connecting points of interest through and between Winchendon and Gardner. Several completed sections of trail make for a lovely ride or walk...
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...
The Ashuelot Recreational Rail Trail passes such scenic and historical landmarks as covered bridges, abandoned mills, and postcard-perfect towns. Starting on asphalt in Keene, the rail-trail can be...
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 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,...
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 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 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 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 Squannacook River Rail Trail is presently 1.1 miles long, from Depot St. to Old Meetinghouse Road in Townsend, Massachusetts. The trail occupies the Greenville Branch of the Boston and Maine...
The Common Pathway travels 5.5 miles from the outskirts of Peterborough south to downtown’s Noone Falls area, paralleling US 202 and the Contoocook River for most of its journey. The small town of...
The Cochituate Rail Trail (CRT) is a developing, multi-use trail that will run from the Village of Saxonville in Framingham to Natick Center, a distance of 4 miles. Currently, its northernmost mile in...
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,...
The Bay Colony Rail Trail will one day span 7 miles connecting the Boston suburbs of Newton, Needham, Dover, and Medfield along tracks once used by the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority. In May...
The Old Railroad, as its name suggests, is a multi-use trail that occupies a former Boston & Maine Railroad corridor. The trail picks up at the northern trailhead of the Common Pathway, a paved...
The West River Railroad, which once followed its namesake river for 36 miles, began passenger service in the late 1800s as a way to trim the two-day voyage between Brattleboro and South Londonderry to...
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...
Appel Way Trail offers a paved route of about a mile through woodlands on the north end of Keene. Most notably, it offers a connection between Wheelock Park on the trail's west end and Ashuelot River...
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,...
Mile 0.0 - DPW Garage Cross the bridge in the parking area, the trail starts behind the fence, crossing over Great Brook on a old dam. Mile 0.53 - After crossing Union St. you will come to a...
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...
Jonathan Daniels Trail travels the length of Ashuelot River Park through Keene. Along the stone-dust trail, you can enjoy the park’s beautiful natural backdrop and flower garden. The trail was named...
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...
The Bridge of Flowers delights the senses of visitors walking among the trees and blossoms on the old trolley bridge spanning the Deerfield River, which connects two communities in northwestern...
The Common Pathway travels 5.5 miles from the outskirts of Peterborough south to downtown’s Noone Falls area, paralleling US 202 and the Contoocook River for most of its journey. The small town of...
The Manhan Rail Trail, well integrated into the local communities it serves, offers a pleasant ride or stroll. It conveniently weaves together parks, community points of interest, neighborhoods, and...
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 Keene Industrial Trail links the county's Cheshire Rail-Trail in the city of Keene. The paved path is a 1-mile segment through downtown Keene, which passes among some of the city's old mill...
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 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 North Central Pathway is envisioned as a trail network connecting points of interest through and between Winchendon and Gardner. Several completed sections of trail make for a lovely ride or walk...
_182873_sc.jpg)
Formerly comprising two separate segments—one running northward from Keene to Walpole, and the other running southward from Keene to Fitzwilliam—the Cheshire Rail Trail now runs a continuous 32.9...
The developing Upper Charles Trail will one day total 24 miles, linking the communities of Milford, Ashland, Sherborn, Holliston, Framingham, and Hopkinton along a former railroad bed. As of 2018,...
The Stillwater Scenic Walkway is a short trail that follows an old railroad bed between Capron Road and State Route 104 (Farnum Pike) south of Smithfield. The trail passes through a wooded area along...
The Old Railroad, as its name suggests, is a multi-use trail that occupies a former Boston & Maine Railroad corridor. The trail picks up at the northern trailhead of the Common Pathway, a paved...
The developing Upper Charles Trail will one day total 24 miles, linking the communities of Milford, Ashland, Sherborn, Holliston, Framingham, and Hopkinton along a former railroad bed. As of 2018,...
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 Old Railroad, as its name suggests, is a multi-use trail that occupies a former Boston & Maine Railroad corridor. The trail picks up at the northern trailhead of the Common Pathway, a paved...
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 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...
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...
Formerly comprising two separate segments—one running northward from Keene to Walpole, and the other running southward from Keene to Fitzwilliam—the Cheshire Rail Trail now runs a continuous 32.9...
Throughout history, the Blackstone River has been an important waterway, from its use by American Indians who fished its once-abundant salmon to its role as a major artery for the transportation of...
The Bridge of Flowers delights the senses of visitors walking among the trees and blossoms on the old trolley bridge spanning the Deerfield River, which connects two communities in northwestern...
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 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...
Built in the 1910s by the Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) as part of the Connecticut River Division Main Line, the route introduced daily service to the B&M Fort Hill Branch in the early 1920s to meet...
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 Center Trail runs for less than a mile from Hopkinton's downtown to its high school and middle school, providing a safe route to school for thousands of students. The wooded trail, which once...
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 Mason Railroad Trail runs for nearly 7 miles from near the New Hampshire–Massachusetts border (nr. Townsend, MA) to Greenville, NH. The trail follows a heavily wooded corridor through Russell...
Jonathan Daniels Trail travels the length of Ashuelot River Park through Keene. Along the stone-dust trail, you can enjoy the park’s beautiful natural backdrop and flower garden. The trail was named...
The well-maintained Canalside Rail Trail provides users with a variety of trestle bridges, views of waterbirds stalking fish and frogs, and gentle grades that alternate between open sky and forested...
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 Stillwater Scenic Walkway is a short trail that follows an old railroad bed between Capron Road and State Route 104 (Farnum Pike) south of Smithfield. The trail passes through a wooded area along...
Not sure why this particular trail gets top reviews. Maybe for walking and scenery. I'll give it that but for biking it sucks. The entire paved trail is nothing but divots and tree roots trying to break through the surface. I found it impossible to bike any short distance without hitting a marked or unmarked divot and when not hitting one of those a tree root. I hit numerous imperfections at 20+mph (no one around at the time) and almost got knocked off the bike. Thumbs UP for walking, dumbs DOWN for biking.
My actual rating on this one is 2.5 stars. One glorious day, probably in a couple of decades, this will be an amazing trail. Right now, it is an extremely mixed bag, and very challenging to do all the way. Me and the friends I rode with didn't make it to the end.
We started on this one as a continuation of the Air Line State Park Trail in Connecticut, heading from west to east, with the Forge Park/495 train station as our destination. The Douglas portion of this one was fine; none of it is paved, but it's maintained, free of ballast and standing water, and our bikes (one loaded tourer and two old-fashioned/90s mountain bikes) were fine on it, if not quite as fast as they would be on asphalt. There was very little traffic; most of the way was reasonably shaded, and the grades are gentle. At some point in Douglas State Forest, it starts skewing downhill, but not really enough to be noticeable. I probably wouldn't take a road bike on it, but a decent all-purpose bike should do fine.
Things became a little harder in Uxbridge. The trail got narrower, rockier, with some overgrowth. There were some pools of standing water, felled trees, the occasional stretch of ballast, and a few above-grade road crossings (i.e., steep hill to the road, then steep hill to get back on the trail), and heavy damage from ATVs. I, on a touring bike, was able to negotiate it, but I had to *negotiate*. And, more than once, walk my bike.
Things continued to be mediocre-to-challenging as we we approached Route 146. At the highway -- which is an uncrossable, shadless, multi-lane freeway -- the trail became complete garbage. We waded through deep pools of standing water and fought our way through fetid, swampy overgrowth before the way basically just disappeared. We had to ride *right* next to the highway itself for a short distance to find a steep, rocky little side path that drops you onto a surface road.
According to the information we had, the trail could be reacquired by riding through some nearby industrial parking lots, but this turned out not to be the case. Thank Cthulhu for Google Maps, because it seems you actually have to detour about a mile on the local roads, which are wide, fast, and without shade, in order to find the entrance to the Blackstone River Greenway, which is the next stretch of the trail. There is next to no signage for any of this.
After the mess that was Uxbridge, the BRG was *exceptional*. Smooth, shady, not heavily trafficked, and some beautiful views from river bridges. I enjoyed every single foot of it. Unfortunately, it dead-ends at a bridge that's still under construction. We needed to leave the BRG anyway, since it will ultimately connect to an existing trail in Rhode Island.
Returning to surface streets, there was no sign of the trail at this point, so we consulted Google Maps again and went up Castle Hill Way, which is a subdivision of condos, devoid of any indication that the trail's right-of-way is there. You have to ride up the road and then go through a little grassy area to get to the gate where the trail picks up. It was doable, but rocky and overgrown, with pockets of ballast and standing water, and stretches damaged by ATVs. Fun for mountain and gravel bikers, maybe, but not so much for us. There was a fenced-off road crossing, but we could maneuver our bikes around it.
The trail continued to be in poor condition, and eventually, somewhere in Bellingham, we ran into a long section of standing water and ballast. Amid the bugs, the heat, and the horrible, nearly impassable terrain, we decided we'd had enough and exited onto Old Elm St., taking the road the rest of the way. Had we gone another mile or so, we would have reached Center St., which we'd heard is where the trail becomes a smoothly paved path all the way to Grove St. in Franklin. We did pass an intersection with the trail on our way to the train station, so that seems to be correct.
So, as I said, this will be an incredible bike path one day. For now, except for the Douglas section, the Blackstone River Greenway ,and the paved section in Franklin and Bellingham, it is best used by people with strong mountain/gravel biking skills, and equipment to match. The painful parts are just not worth it.
Rode this with some friend, starting in Cranston, all the way to the end. I thought it was great! Good pavement and well-shaded in Cranston and Coventry, although things got a touch bumpy in West Warwick due to tree roots, and there was less shade there as well. Oh, and there wasn't much traffic either, which is a nice change from what I'm used to. Overall, it was everything I want in a rail trail, except for one thing: going from east to west, the last few miles are a steady climb. Since this is a rail trail, it's a relatively gentle climb, but it's constant and your legs will feel it. My advice is to shift to a slightly easier gear, get a good cadence going, and just take your time!
Rode most of this with some friends. I was on a hardcore touring bike (Surly Disc Trucker), under load, and they were on older '90s-style mountain bikes. We made it, but a lot of it was rough going. Many parts are rocky and heavily damaged by ATVs. We occasionally had to slog through deep pools of standing water and mud; this was also the case on the Trestle Trail in Rhode Island, with which this trail connects. Overall, on the bikes we had with us, it wasn't much fun. If you're a causal rider and prefer paved rail trails, you won't have a good time. But, if you have a very capable gravel or mountain bike, and you know how to use it, then you might enjoy this one. Otherwise, avoid. Hopefully this trail gets fixed up and at least re-graded and re-surfaced someday, but I'm not holding my breath.
This is a nice (mostly flat) trail that is paved from the road behind the Clark YMCA all the way to 140. There is a short on-road section with a decent uphill to pick up the trail over by Rt 140. Past 140, the trail alternates between sand, gravel, and loose rock on one uphill. Trail suddenly ends at a barrier that’s the edge of a cemetary.
Started at the trailhead on Scott Mitchell and rode south. A little muddy in a couple spots (very large puddles at the underpass for 202) , some roots in the path. My son was the leader in the ride and was easily able to follow the trail down to the center of Peterborough.
I rode this trail out and back on 7/15/2021. Total out and back ride clocked in at 9.55 miles, 150 feet elevation change down heading North, so 150 feet uphill heading back South. I parked in the shopping plaza by the Taco Bell and rode the bike lane to the CTfastrack station where the trail starts.
For the most part the trail was clean except for a broken bottle just outside the first station, and a couple of trash cans that were left out for pickup on one of the sidewalk sections. There were not many people on the actual trail and every single one of them said hello and or thanked me for signaling when passing. The trail parallels not only the bus lane, but also an active train line, Amtrak is doing work on the line so in some places you can smell the new ties that they are installing. On the north end of the trail I stopped at a Dunkin' that was across the street from the station, and at the south end I stopped by the bike shop that is next to the hotel and part of the parking garage. There is a mix of businesses along the trail including convince stores and places to get food. The scenery is a mix of urban, industrial, tree lined, train tracks, and bus depots, if you pay attention you will even see a fiberglass Cobra Shelby along the sidewalk section. You will see plenty of busses, and if you are lucky maybe a train.
[Biked from Bushnell Park to Charter Oak Park and back, 7/11/21]
If you're driving to a trail, don't make it this one. As many have said, the experience of biking next to the I-384 is less than stellar. There were two places where the vegetation had overgrown the trail to the point where some cyclists are going to crash sooner rather than later. The trail is boring, the street portions are boring, there's really nothing that makes this trail stand out. If you don't want to see people but you want to hear cars anyway, this might be the trail for you. Hardly anyone else on the trail, must be that everyone else is wiser than I. Aside from being a boring, noisy trail with occasional Jumanji hazards, the pavement itself is in decent shape and the hills give a workout so I'll refrain from giving this 1 star.
I won't blame this on the trail given the recent storms, but there was also a downed tree blocking the entire path and the only way around was a muddy, flooded detour some intrepid souls must've carved.
Also protip: Labyrinth appears to be closed on Sundays, I'd call ahead if you're planning a beer with your ride :(
I like this trail to walk because it is well paved, flat, no hills, and friendly considerate people especially the bike riders who usually indicate when they are passing me. There is some industrial and kind of dumpy areas that abut the trail unlike where I came from, Woodstock NY, where the paths are pristine and beautiful. However, I like where the trail crosses a bridge across the Mill River just past Veterans Field in Northampton.
This is a great ride for me to test my novice skills. I find myself coming back to here twice a week after work just to get a quick workout in
Started at Prospect Street boat launch and road north. First mile or two of trail is wide and gravel with potholes. Nice scenery next to river. I'd score this part of the trail a 3. From mile 2 to 3 the trail is still wide but mostly grass with two dirt tracks (a car width apart). Grass is about 8 to 12" tall. Hard to see some bumps and defects. I'd score this part of the trail a 2. From mile 3.2 to the bridge at mile 4.4 (all distances from Prospect Street) boat launch the trail is in poor condition and a single track. I'd score this a 1. The bridge is the remnant of an impressive structure. The steel is rusty but in good shape. The timbers are rotting but for those not intimidated they can be walked. It's a shame the bridge isn't being saved for rail trail users. This is a dead end. I wanted to get back on to Route 119. I needed to go back 1.2 miles to find a poor quality side trail that dumped me out behind the Sunoco gas station.
The scenery on the ride was the best for the first 2 miles of the trip. After that, in general, you are inland and not looking to the side. Your focus is on navigating the trail.
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)
