Find the top rated running trails in Connecticut, 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.
Phase 1- the makings of a wonderful trail! Anxiously waiting for the completion of phase 2.
The Air Line State Park Trail is one of my favorite bike trails in Connecticut. Rode our bikes there last week and was very disappointed with the recently resurfaced section from the Cranberry Bog in East Hampton. The gravel that was used in the resurfacing is to soft and to deep. Has only been open for a week (10/28/2020) and it is already marred by craters from horses and foot traffic. The ride is bumpy like a wash board. At one point I swerved to miss a pile of horse droppings and got to close to the edge which then collapsed under my bike causing me to fall. What was once a favorite section of the trail for us, is now a major disappointment.
We started at Tait road entrance around 4:30 pm. Path was leafy but dry and good with great views.
I rode the entire Hop River Trail beginning in Manchester and ending in Willimantic on a wonderful Fall day. The trail is tightly packed gravel and was in very good condition. The trail is mostly shaded and offers a nice views of woods, streams and rock formations throughout the trail. I didn't notice many opportunities to easily exit the trail for food or supplies so plan your trip accordingly.
My biggest complaint about the Hop River Trail is that every road crossing has very narrow gates on each side that only have one opening. It wasn't very busy when I rode but I can see that these gates would cause congestion on a busy day. Also they almost require you to carefully walk your bike through as riding in those narrow openings can be very difficult. I enjoyed the tunnels along the trail but I could see how the lack of lighting in one of the tunnels could be uncomfortable for some riders.
This asphalt bike path has a one fairly large hill and seemed longer than 1.6 miles. Very quiet and low volume bike path. As mentioned, there are easy off-shoots to the Hayley Farm dirt trails and Bluff Point trails. With all of connecting trails we were able to amass a 10-mile ride. Instead of parking in the Midway Oval neighborhood cul-de-sac, you can park at Hayley Farm or Bluff Point - the bike path can be accessed from both spots but the Hayley Farm trail can be rocky in parts. From Bluff Point the path can be reached two ways: first way is passing by the port-o-lets on the left and riding east all the way to the foot bridge over the train tracks - the bike path starts/ends here. Second way is by riding out of Bluff Point back towards RT 1, after passing under the railroad trestle bridge - turn right onto Industrial Drive and into the industrial park. Take this road about 500 yards and on the left will be a a short dirt path that connects to the Midway Oval cul-de-sac.
Why am I the first one reviewing this lovely path? On Wed Sept 09, 2020 I rode here with beautiful weather 70F and dry. Both sides of the Connecticut river with the City of Hartford on the west are connected by several bridges, but the best is the Veteran's bridge. There are many sculptures everywhere.
Go. Enjoy the lovely scenery and the city.
Wednesday afternoon, September 16, 2020
Weather: 70' and hazy
I rode most of this trail and the river walk sculpture park in the City of Hartford. It was enjoyable, but my biggest complaint is the utter lack of signage at trail end points. If this is part of the East Coast Greenway, going from Maine to Florida, you currently need to bring directions or a map when leaving a proper trail and moving through roadways. I have Google Maps on my phone, so I could find my way, but....
The Hartford city section along the river was the best part for me. Then I had to put my bike back in the car and go to a park in Manchester to resume the ride. First I went west toward where I left off in Hartford, but turned around at the Manchester Community College and went all the way east to the end. It seems like a continual hill upward, but of course coming back was all downhill and much quicker. Right next to busy roads and highways, it is a noisy trail.
The surface is quite nice. There are no bad off-road paved trails, only good ones and better ones. This is a good one and I am glad I rode it once, but would not return.
Pros: - Perfect for everyone at every age. Flat terrain. 3 mile walk, 6 miles round trip. - Water pictures, trail pictures, field pictures. - Well shaded Cons: None!!! Unless your seeking a challenging long trail. - For mountain bikes only maybe hybrids Thoughts:
I've logged about 20k miles of road biking across the United States namely in WA, MO, OH, PA, MD and FL, and maybe 10% of that on trails. To get to stay 99% of the time on a car-free trail for almost 50 miles (as a loop) is rare- and to have some scenery- is nearly unheard of. Thrilled to be in CT now and using this as my go-to ride.
We rode this trail on 9/12/20, starting at the parking lot on route 63.
Overall, a nice trail, but it has a lot of plusses but also some things that could be considered “minuses” by some.
Plus:
Shaded, pretty sections high over the adjoining forest.
Some nice scenery including horse farms (and horses share the trail, we passed several), plus several ponds. Route goes through the woods the whole way…very little in the way of passes through suburbia.
Not crowded.
Not a huge number of road crossings, and typically with good sight lines.
No big hills, some gradual ups and downs.
Minuses:
Most of the train is hard packed dirt or stone dust that makes for a good surface. However, there are significant sections that are a bit rougher. Some of the road crossings involve a downhill, cross the road, and then an uphill…often with a lot of stone or sand involved. There is a section around mile 8-9(when going West) where the trail follows something like a creek bed, with large stones that make it problematic (we walked this section). There are some embedded stones along the way so you have to watch where you’re going and steer around them..or even walk briefly. Some sections do have some drainage issues, so just need to be careful there. And parts of the trail become more like singletrack. We were able to navigate the entire route with our mountain/trail bikes (30 or 32 cc tires)…I would not recommend a conventional skinny tire road bike here.
Please don’t think the minuses outnumber the plusses here. Overall I recommend this trail because it’s pretty and ridable. Maps are available at the Connecticut DEP website.
Finally I recommend starting at the Naugatuck route 63 parking area…several other posters have noted that there’s basically no parking if you start in Southbury.
Check out the Air Line trail and the Hop River trail, not too far away in central Connecticut, for other options you may want to try.
Heading south toward the Colchester spur, the map shows a fork in the path that veers off to the left. This doesn’t exit. You have to continue down an take a real left. There’s a sign.
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