Tag: Hop River Trail

The East Coast Greenway between Hartford and Bolton, Conn.

I’m determined to finish biking the 3,000-mile East Coast Greenway. This is the first of four days that should do it.

This section of the East Coast Greenway has changed considerably since the Week-A-Year ride came through in 2012 and even when we visited the area four years later. Two trails — the Hop River Trail and Charter Oak Greenway — are now linked with both fresh asphalt and new bridges, attracting more users than ever. I know groups that would be envious of the sign on that red bridge!

I’m on a quest to bike the entire 3,000-mile East Coast Greenway, and this section marked the start of my final piece. To do it, we biked 18 miles from Hartford to Bolton Notch State Park (the end point of a 2016 ride on the crushed-stone Hop River Trail) and then 18 miles back.

If you have a choice, east to west is easier.

Continue reading “The East Coast Greenway between Hartford and Bolton, Conn.”

This updated Connecticut trail map makes my 2021 ride list

The traffic-free route from East Hartford to Willimantic on the Charter Oak Greenway and Hope River Trail.

Happy biking, all!

Take a look at this just-updated map of Connecticut’s Charter Oak and Hop River trails.

You can ride traffic-free from East Hartford all the way to Willimantic — just wow! (OK, it looks like there might the tiniest section on the road.) That’s about 26.2 miles, or the length of a marathon for my runner friends.

Continue reading “This updated Connecticut trail map makes my 2021 ride list”

Connecticut’s trails east of Hartford

We finally got off the Farmington trails and explored the Hop River Trail and Airline Trail South.

airline trail mile markerDay 3 in Connecticut — we finally got off the Farmington trails and headed east of Hartford. There are a series of trails — the Charter Oak Greenway, the Hop River Trail, Airline Trail North and Airline Trail South. All but Airline South are part of the East Coast Greenway “spine” and together take you almost to Rhode Island. (The Airline trails get their name from an old train line that connected Boston and New York as if a line was drawn through the air.)

There’s work being done here too — we saw construction along I-384 for a trail that will connect the Charter Oak and Hop River trails (and eventually include some costly bridges). Barb, one of my ECG buddies and a trail angel, told me another project is tying the northern end of the Hop River Trail in Vernon (where it’s no longer part of the ECG) to the Charter Oak Greenway in Manchester. And it’s all because of this man, a true trails advocate and East Coast Greenway champion. Thank you, Bill O’Neill.

ecg bill oneill plaque

We rode a 39.5-mile loop of trail and road from Bolton Notch State Park to Willimantic, then to Hebron and back to the car. Unlike the Farmington trails, these trails were stone-dust trails and every once in a while a bit bumpy on our road bikes. Still — road bikes with skinny tires!

Continue reading “Connecticut’s trails east of Hartford”