You don’t have to look far to discover a good spot to investigate nature in Connecticut. Scenic wilderness trails crisscross virtually every corner of the state, offering opinions aplenty. From level and, in paved pathways to intense wilderness hikes, and pet, some cases – and bicyclist-friendly spots, you’ll find dozens, if not thousands, of great places to get out and about within the state. Here are 26.

Kent

For a less intense but equally scenic walk in Kent, visit this beloved natural attraction. From the parking lot, guests mix a covered bridge in to a scenic area with grills, picnic tables and wonderful views of the falls. From there they can trek up a paved but steep path next to the falls that winds up the hillside for 200 feet before ending in a dramatic 70-foot stream. The walk is simply 1 / 4-mile each way, but feels longer to the way up. There are many scenic areas and viewing programs on the way, allowing visitors to look at various cascades and locations where the limestone over which the water flows has been designed into interesting patterns.

Appalachian Trail
About 52 miles of the planet-famous Appalachian Trail (AT) reductions through Connecticut in the New York border into Kent, then to Salisbury and into Massachusetts. It goes through the neighborhoods of Lime Rock and Falls Community and the city of Cornwall, reducing its way along the Litchfield Hills, aka the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains. You can find steep increases, country views, waterfalls and relatively flat areas. The Undermountain Trail on Bear Mountain links up together with the AT — a three-quarter-mile section in Falls Community is smooth and wheelchair accessible — and there are several popular spots in Kent, including St. John’s Ledges, a 4.7-mile part of the path which includes several sweeping views of the Housatonic Valley and is available from River Road.

Devil’s Den Nature Preserve
Weston

At 1,756 miles, Devil’s Bedroom may be the state’s largest continuous preserve. It straddles the neighborhoods of Redding and Weston while offering A20-mile trail system that takes outcroppings walkers past rocky crests, cliffs and large ledges, many covered with mosses and grasses. The preserve provides habitat for 500 varieties of wildflowers and trees, in addition to red fox, bobcats, coyote, Asian copperheads, wood ducks, woodpeckers and much more than 140 other bird species. It is run by the Nature Conservancy to protect the watershed of the west division of the Saugatuck River and supply refuge for wildlife and lots of marine species, including uncommon mussel species. Due to its availability goal, just low-impact actions are authorized and animals and bicycles are not allowed.

Macedonia Brook State Park
Kent

Step to the wilderness at this hardcore hiking spot. Cellphone service is spotty, as well as the signs and sounds of world are far as of this 2,300-acre wilderness park occupying territory once owned by Native Americans. The park is also traversed by many streams. the park’s campground isn’t likely to take function in 2017, since it will probably be another casualty of the state’s ongoing budget problems, although in years past, Macedonia has also served as a campground.

Bear Mountain
Salisbury

The tallest peak within the state increases 2,316 ft above the Litchfield County countryside. Curiously, it’s not the greatest point in the state. That honor is one of the mountainside of Mount Frissell, also in Salisbury, but Frissell’s top is over the Massachusetts border. State boundaries and level landmarks aside, hikers trying to beat this imposing peak must prepare for a strenuous trek that rewards exertion with great views along with a chance to access part of the Appalachian Trail. Berkshirehiking.com says climbing Bear Mountain by taking the “Undermountain Trail which can be 3 miles north of Salisbury away from Route 41. Whenever you reach the huge wooden trail sign as Undermountain and Appalachian Trails meet, …, you’ll have a right turn onto the Appalachian Trail. From here it’s about another distance for the top of Bear Mountain having a small, semi-high climb the final few hundred yards.”

Quinebaug River Trail
Killingly and Putnam

In line with the Killingly Conservation Commission, “the trail begins in the Holiday Inn just northwest of the Attawaugan/Ballouville exit of 395 (exit 94) and moves north along Tracy Path toward Putnam. The path ends on Tracy Road, but you can interact with the Putnam River Trail along the Quinebaug River.” Actions include managing walking and biking, when you continue north into Putnam. The program would be to eventually connect the path in the region to become part of the East Coast Greenway connecting the entire Eastern Seaboard with other paths.

Steep Rock Preserve
Washington Depot

Other attractions include a former railway tunnel as well as a suspension foot bridge, which reduces dramatically through the side of the form, making an opening that appears like King Kong’s lair. The suspension bridge permits you to walk-over the center of the pond and get a terrific vantage point, perfect for Instagram. The Steep Rock preserve is part of the Steep Rock Association, a property trust which oversees other nearby preserves totaling 700 acres, 2.

Topstone Park
Redding

Only minutes in the crowded thoroughfare of Route 7, this 280-acre state park is just a hidden jewel in Fairfield County. A generally flat nature trail groups a charming pool hugging the banks of the water and providing plenty of opinions plus a non-demanding nature experience. Visitors can also enjoy swimming and picnicking at a sandy beach. However the charges could be prohibitive for nonresidents: there is a yearly pass $150 for others and $60 for village residents. The path, however, is available to all totally free. Not simply is the park dog-friendly for dogs that are leashed, but there is a fenced-in location to the water that serves as an aquatic dog park, and enables your hairy walking partners to cool off.

Sleeping Giant State Park
Hamden

This south-central Connecticut star is probably one of the best known natural clusters within the state. For people who don’t know, the form located next to Quinnipiac University resembles a-2-distance-long figure that become grounded to our reports, to the world and also to our vision of the area and has set down. You will find enough tracks to maintain even an experienced hiker coming back over and over. Highlights are even the western edge of the shape, or the many views to the “head” of the enormous. Not to be missed could be the abandoned quarry at the far western fringe of the park, as well as the structure atop the giant “left hip,” offering spectacular views of the More New Haven area. (The structure was built in 1936 as part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration.)

Killingworth

Using a system of trails blanketed in dense forest for people who go on or near the main coast, Chatfield Hollow is an accessible yet immersive state park. The park’s many rock formations offer excellent opportunities for people who want to climb or scramble up rock faces (without purchasing climbing equipment). The structures produce a number of cliffs that give a terrific feeling of wilderness. A 825-foot boardwalk allows the orange, and passing over an inland swamp -blazed Chatfield Trail runs into the Cockaponset State Forest and begins below. Several streams and ponds provide fishing and swimming opportunities. Schreeder Pond, located inside the park’s edges, is one of the ponds stocked weekly with trout in the state’s fish hatcheries.

Mattabesett Trail and Mount Higby
Middlefield

Mount Higby, close to the border of Middlefield and Meriden, is simply one-part of the 50-mile Mattabesett Trail, which winds its way from Middletown, south into Guilford, backup through Durham and Middlefield, before finishing in Meriden. The bigger trail traverses a number of mountains and traprock ridges, none really as pleasant as Mount Higby. Park your car in the lot to the westbound side of Route 66 as it heads toward I-691. It’s a short walk to the form, featuring exceptional views of Meriden, its Hanging Hills, as well as the surrounding area. For a reward, rather than following a trail back to the parking lot, keep left and consider Guida’s Restaurant an alternate walk, for a few of the best home fries you’ll actually have.

River Mills Heritage Trail & Putnam River Trail
Putnam

Remain on the Quinebaug River to get a hike that combines the man-made setting of the location with stunning natural splendor. The River Mills Heritage Trail can be a distance-long walk that links six unique old mills over the river, reminding us of the river’s once whole value for economy and the existence with this area of the state. Beginning on the east side of the river, then crossing over to the west, then back for the east, this walk allows a fantastic study of the professional heritage of the region, including the Cargill Falls dam and rapids. Stick to the eastside of the river on the 2-distance Putnam River Trail, driving through wooded areas, along with shopping districts.

White Memorial Conservation Center
Litchfield

This individual land trust has numerous simple and moderate trails dropping through a wondrous selection of habitats, including fields, stored forests and wetlands. Biking, hiking and horse riding are just a number of the actions to savor here, but electric vehicles aren’t allowed. The most popular trail will be the Little Pond Boardwalk Trail, in which a 1.2-mile wooden walkway allows pursuit of woods around the edge of the lake and within the wetlands. The walk and boardwalk are available to foot travel. Slab Meadow, the newest trail, was blazed inside the drop of 2015 and contains several circles, vernal pools, an overlook onto a marsh, along with a link to the Mattatuck Trail. While White Memorial presents not one-track bike paths, bikes may be ridden on any selected gravel along with other highways, that provide some heart-pumping climbs and downhills. White Memorial’s grounds and paths are open to the general public 24 hours a day all year long.

Groton

The Connecticut shoreline is very heavily produced, but the further east you get, the more sparse it gets. Bluff Point is a proper piece of wilderness, right-there about the water. If you are a lover of thick wood, of the smell of saltwater, and the sea, the over 800 miles of the peninsula of Bluff Point are for you. Saltwater fishing and mountain biking opportunities abound with this throw of area, abutted Mumford Cove and by the Poquonnock River. In line with the State Dept. of Power and Environmental Protection, although Bluff Point was recommended for exchange as being a state recreation center as early as 1914, it wasn’t until 1963 that the western one third of the property was acquired from Henry A. Gardiner III. State holdings include a north south strip of the mainland, some of the headland bluff fronting the Noise, along with the tombolo or sands pit forming a beach of nearly one mile in length.”

Mine Hill Preserve
Roxbury

Not just does this 360-acre Roxbury Land Trust nature preserve provide several of the best (and many intense) walking in New England, let alone Connecticut, however it also has an upclose glimpse into history. Mine Hill is the website of the 19th-century iron mine, granite quarries and furnace complex, a surgical procedure that burned hot for a short-time, perhaps causing the founding of a “boom town” named Chalybes to house and support the many immigrant workers. Its commercial venture long abandoned, Mine Hill currently allows visitors to visit the slopes, moving by mine tunnels, air shafts (that are now-protected entrances a number of bat hibernacula) and huge granite cliffs, before looping back into the Shepaug River area and the complex having its restored blast furnace and roasting ovens. Just ensure you’re in fairly good shape. The blue-blazed loop trail is classified as modest, however many parts of the northeastern the main loop are advanced.

Union

Among the more remote locations within our state, this 516-acre park close to the Massachusetts line in the northeast corner can also be with endless heavy forest, open steel, and several streams, wetlands and lakes, one of the most charming. Arguably the park’s standout features are its figures of water, with trails running to and in the 18-acre Bigelow Pond, the 92-acre Breakneck Pond and the 300-acre Mashapaug Lake. The 6-plus-mile loop around Breakneck Pond could be challenging at times, but doesn’t come close to living as much as its name. Stop every now and then to take in the fantastic views offered by overlooks. Although hiking is likely more popular, mountain biking opportunities can also be many, with about 20 miles of bicycle-friendly trails. A word for the wise: possibly choose one-up or bring a place inside the park. Just two tracks cycle, and paths and paths crisscross in spots. With densely packed trees the past thing you intend to do is wander away.

Case Mountain
Manchester and Glastonbury

Many years back, Bicycling magazine announced this the best place in their state for mountain biking. That turned out to be a double edged sword, in general new pair of biking enthusiasts discovered this wonderful treasure, which got a bit of a beating along the way. Luckily, trail maintenance has increased recently, keeping this 640-acre recreational area for years ahead. The tracks characteristic rocky and hilly landscape, creating for fairly challenging walks and bike rides. Make it for the summit of the hill and revel in a great view of the Connecticut River Valley along with the Hartford skyline. If you’re experience particularly ambitious, you can hop on on the trail to Gay City State Park in Hebron, together with the 29-distance, orange- Shenipsit Trail, which crosses Event Pile coming from East Hampton for the Massachusetts border.

Pachaug State Forest
000 acres, with more than 28, this is our biggest state forest, promising 54 kilometers of roads and trails. The landscape provides hardwood forests wetlands, sand barrens, mountains, an unusual bright-cedar swamp and a rare rhododendron sanctuary, which can be property to an ADA-approved wheelchair-accessible trail and it is entirely bloom in July and June. Hikers seeking a challenge will probably enjoy landscape and the dramatic overlooks of a jaunt up the named Mount Misery.

Naugatuck River Greenway
Torrington to Derby

The Naugatuck River criticized as a bringer of damage together with a noisome dumping ground of industrial waste, as well as ’55’s ancient Flooding, has witnessed a remarkable rebirth in recent decades. Paddlers and anglers have discovered the water, and, lately, a recreational area of open area known as a greenway’s dream has come nearer to reality. Although no more than 10 percent with this planned 44-mile multi-use trail following the Naugatuck River from your Litchfield Hills towards the Naugatuck River Valley has been completed, the caliber of its finished pieces and the ambition of the project value a place on this list. The head of the trail is along Franklin Street in Torrington and can follow the lake south through Litchfield, Harwinton, Thomaston, Watertown, Waterbury, Naugatuck, Beacon Falls, Seymour, Ansonia and Derby. Created for walkers, runners and cyclists, the NRG has six finished sections, with parts in Derby, Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Naugatuck, Watertown and Torrington. A new section is in Seymour, and is anticipated to be completed by August, in 2013, ground can break, and programs come in the works for a new section in Waterbury along with an extension in Torrington. Joined and the target is for all pieces to be completed by 2031.

This former journey of the Airline Railroad, which carried people to and from New York and Boston, is today a lovely gravel walk that might be the best way to explore the Quiet Place, along with a sizable chunk of the state’s northeast region. Wending its way through more than a half-dozen state parks and forests, the path is flat and large (to best accommodate trains), rendering it ideal for walking, managing, biking and horse riding. The path is split into two areas: the south, which goes from East Hampton to the Willimantic River; along with the north, which goes from Willimantic to Putnam. Though it’s much less well removed since the rest the trail continues towards the Massachusetts border through Thompson. The Air Line is area of the East Coast Greenway, a planned traffic-free path from Maine towards the Florida Keys. A couple of third of the 3,000-mile route is related, with hopes that every one is going to be attached in about 20 years.

Simsbury

Not every trail has its final spot obvious from your first phase, but the ancient Heublein Tower awaits hikers towards the top of the 574-acre Talcott Mountain State Park some 1,000 feet above the Farmington River Valley. The 165-foot structure is around the National Register of Historic Places and offers phenomenal 360-degree views after hikers make the 1¼-mile walk, which requires about 30-40 minutes. The state DEEP site claims “those with sharp vision can see a place believed to be 1,200 square miles.” It also advises how to proceed in the event of the bear sighting; so that your trip might turn out to be a lot more than only a walk in the park. A little element of the orange- blazed, 62 -distance Metacomet Trail also extends through the park.

Silver Sands State Park
Milford

Joggers and walkers would be hard-pressed to locate greater coast scenery somewhere else in the condition due to their aerobic exercise program. Because it links Silver Sands Beach to Walnut Beach running parallel to Long Island Sound, the boardwalk has unimpeded views of the water and Charles Island. You can find mountains, small curves and declines throughout — not forgetting more and more people if the weather cooperates — so joggers who suffer from boredom on circular trails won’t and treadmills have trouble maintaining focus. Take some time to look around, if you’re there for a leisurely stroll. Rocks are the language of the boardwalk; they’re applied to spell words like “Storms and “Love” Pass” or give you the fabric for communications within The Kindness Rocks Project. Silver Sands now offers walking paths of gravel, concrete, soil and wood that crisscross dunes and tidal wetlands. And twice a day during low tide, you can make the 2½-mile loop out to Charles Area and back.

Farmington River Trail
Farmington to Simsbury

Occupying the space of the previous Central New England Train, this rail-path offers exercises when you’re on concrete under a shady cover of trees, woodsy aspects of dust and crushed stone, and sections which might be on community roads. In the not-too-distant future, the lake and History tracks can be truly related, building one 84-mile trail extending from your New Haven shoreline for the foothills of the Berkshires in Northampton, Massachusetts. Farmington is nearing completion of an expansion into upper Plainville, Southington is organizing its expansion for the Plainville line, and Plainville is gearing up to connect the last remaining difference in the coming years.

Mianus River Park
Greenwich and Stamford

There’s a 2½-mile nature trail with 13 sights, but additionally there are loads of trails for walking, hiking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and mountain biking. There’s a seemingly endless network of well-managed trails for dog-walking, choosing the great fishing area within the Mianus River and exploring dynamics. One downside is that parking isn’t abundant, and over a great summer time, the people will be.

Mount Tom State Park
Washington Depot

The main attraction at Mount Tom State Park may be the spring- fed lake and picnic and beach areas. However the hiking trail here results in a 34-foot stone lookout tower (an undesirable man’s Heublein Tower, if you will) that sits 1,325 feet above sea level while offering clear views of Massachusetts, New York and each of northwestern Connecticut. The trail is less than a mile is pretty steep. Take a few breaks on the road up to check out some fascinating geological formations, glacially created for your satisfaction. Parking is restricted, so when the park reaches capacity it will be closed to extra readers, so get there early. Although it’s a great backpack throughout the summer months due to the distance of the pond, the forest vegetation in the fall is not to be missed.

East Rock
New Haven

The sole access on our list apparent from your windows of the Connecticut Magazine offices, you will find more than 10 miles of paths at East Rock, including an 800-foot self-guided nature trail created and managed simply by pupils of Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven. The 365-foot summit — property for the Troops and Sailors Monument — offers views of neighboring downtown and Long Island Sound. The Giant Steps Trail towards the summit supplies a solid workout, having a convenient handrail. Biking is prohibited to the hiking trails, but allowed on town and roads -given mountain bike trails. Open year round, cross country skiers and snowshoers can take advantage of the 427-acre park within the winter season.