Tag: Willimantic

Biking the East Coast Greenway: 19 traffic-free miles on Connecticut’s Air Line Trail from Willimantic to Pomfret

I’ve cycled almost all of the East Coast Greenway. I’m spending three days riding sections I haven’t yet ridden, starting with Connecticut’s Air Line Trail.

It’s such a great feeling when you turn on your bike computer and it says next turn in 19 miles.

Continue reading “Biking the East Coast Greenway: 19 traffic-free miles on Connecticut’s Air Line Trail from Willimantic to Pomfret”

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”