Connecticut’s gold-star trails

I’ve been hearing a lot about the Connecticut section of the East Coast Greenway over the past two years and knew I wanted to see these trails. But after I was put in charge of the ride-on-your-own section of a “Discover the East Coast Greenway” event in NYC a group of us organized in April, I knew I had to go.

So we took a three-day weekend and toured the trails with the help of some ECG buddies.

WOW!

We just loved them. (One of my nieces might call them “epic”.) Judging by how busy they were, so do lots of other people. And then to see gaps being closed along the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail (which runs from New Haven into Massachusetts) — well, this is why I ride in support of the East Coast Greenway.

On Friday, we met up with Jack, from the Philly-to-Fredericksburg ride (you can read his blog here). Our 51-mile loop started out at the southern tip of the 16-mile Farmington River Trail. We stopped for lunch after 7 miles at the LaSalle Market & Deli in Collinsville. Huge sandwich menu! And packed! The bike racks were full, and more bikes were against the low stone wall. We bunched our three together:

The trail is gorgeous, paved and wide. At some points it’s so wide that you can ride two abreast, a cyclist or walker is coming the other way and there is plenty of room.

It connects back to the Farmington Canal trail in Simsbury, where the East Coast Greenway route takes you either east to Hartford or south to where we parked and then on to New Haven. We opted to head north for about another dozen miles so we could say we’ve cycled in Massachusetts.

And of course we also had to sample Massachusetts ice cream. Little Red Riding Hood’s Basket Cafe is about a mile up the trail from the state line. And to get your water bottle refilled with ice — what a treat!

We finished with a ride straight down the trail to the car and then off to Jack’s for dinner. A great day!

Read more about our Connecticut trip here, here and here.

Author: alliumstozinnias

A gardener (along with the Brit) who has discovered there is more than hybrid tomatoes. And a cyclist. View all posts by alliumstozinnias