Explore the best rated trails in Torrington, CT, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Hudson River Brickyard Trail and Walkway Over The Hudson . With more than 64 trails covering 574 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
This was a very short trail which was completely paved. It was nice and shaded due to the trees. It would be an easy walk with grandparents (there are benches) or young children. I recommend setting your gps to find something like 134 Sandy Hill Road in Florence. From there, you can easily find the trail beginning. To get my 10,000 steps I had to go back and forth on the trail a lot. But I still appreciated it fully paved! Seems like more of a neighborhood morning walk trail.
Just finished the whole trail, plus the Charter Oak Trail, from Columbia to Manchester, and back. 44 miles at 12.5 mph. A very gentle steady climb of about 500 feet to Bolton Notch, from the east. Also about 500 feet up the South end of Manchester. With the exception of a short stretch leaving Columbia, the trail is very rideable, in fine shape. Highly recommended!
Trail starts downtown New Britian, easy to find. Trail was clean, well marked except when you hit the main road for a little distance. Not a lot of people on 5/25/24. There's not a lot to look at but a nice 4.4 Mile trail.
This is a great trail. Great scenery and well paved. The northern part is partially under repair and new pavement so you have may to go to a starting point a little further south
Over run with cyclists. Many very inconsiderate. They don’t ring their bell until right behind you. Should be a biking speed limit. Many older people can’t move out of the way when there are pairs of cyclists that stay side by side. Extremely inconsiderate. Not all but too many are.
Several sections of the trail are currently closed between Copake and Millerton. Although I wouldn't recommend them to everyone, I considered them very rideable or walkable. I'd probably start a few stops down next time, but only to avoid rerouting if they were actually doing maintenance and wouldn't let me pass though. When I wasn't considering alternative routes I was overtaken by the scenery between Copake and Milerton. The wildlife and landscapes were seldom disappointing, but the countless bugs were distracting. Milerton to Wassaic was underwhelming if you've drove along 22 before. Strangely, it was in worse condition than the closed sections. Scattered frost heaves sent cyclist darting around the trail or shot out of their saddle and skateboards trying to break their fall. Knowing this made it easier on the way back, but also way slower.
Cannot say this enough. I rode into more bugs in 4h on this trail than I have in over 4000 miles anywhere else.
TLDR:
This trail is currently "closed" for several miles. The trail is full of stunning scenery, bumps, and bugs. Well worth visiting, but keep expectations in check. Would give 3.75 if it was an option.
Great trail through White Memorial Wildlife Preserve. Bantam section not complete yet, but still worth an out-and-back ride. Lunch in Litchfield, ice cream in Bantam.
I rode both the William Stienhaus trail and the Hudson Valley Trail on a very windy early April Sunday. In comparison to the Stienhaus trail the Hudson Valley Trail is not as well marked but is also wide and in great condition like the Stienhaus trail. The Hudson Trail is overall more consistently scenic with less residential and commercial areas until you get to the end which runs right next to RT 9.
There are a few options to take a path of the trail to go into Highland which offers a few places to eat. My only complaint is that there is that there is no clear signage that the Hudson Valley Trail ended so I rode about a mile adjacent to RT 9 before realizing that the Hudson Valley trail technically ended at a small parking lot.
I rode the entirety of the Steinhaus Trail starting at Hopewell Junction and riding over the Walkway over the Hudson. On a very windy early April Sunday the trail was lightly used and everyone was very polite and practiced great trail etiquette including very attentive drivers at road intersections.
The trail itself is fairly wide, is well marked with mile markers counting up or down from Hopewell Junction depending on which way you are going and is in immaculate shape. I don't even recall a single bump, pothole or crack on the asphalt. The scenery is a mix of light residential, some commercial, a nice lake near Hopewell Junction and a good amount of tree cover.
I appreciate how easy it was to connect to the Hudson Valley Rail Trail via the Walkway over the Hudson which added to my ride.
TrailLink is not updated and someone should confirm but a visiting cyclist on the user-run Facebook Rail to Trails site just posted that he rode 10 paved miles at the Kingston end!
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