Simsbury Outdoors Enthusiasts Can Now Explore the Rail Trails Online

OK hikers, walkers, runners and cyclists ...

There’s a new, high-tech way to plan your next outdoor excursion on Connecticut's Rails-to-Trails systems — the online CT Rail Trail Explorer.

The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and Department of Transportation have launched CT Rail Trail Explorer to provide all the information people need to plan a few hours – or even a day - on the state’s expansive network of rail trails, DEEP Offricials said this week.

CT Rail Trail Explorer can be found at www.ct.gov/deep/railtrailexplorer

This new online feature was developed by the DEEP’s State Parks Trails & Greenways Program in cooperation with the DOT’s Transportation Alternatives Program to guide visitors to trails that provide a way to easily explore some of CT's unique landscapes on foot, bike or even horseback. Users can interactively plan their visit by either clicking on a State Park Trail logo or from an interactive map, DEEP officials said.

Users can plan their trip by asking to see how many miles they want have to travel from a parking lot of choice to a destination, or measure distances between parking lots or other trail features of interest.

They can also find the parking area nearest to them and get directions, DEEP officials said.

There is an option to print out a map once settling on a route. Other map functions include a user generated profile map of trail elevations along a selected route; photographs of sites along the trails and parking areas; links to associated State Park maps and websites for more details.

The CT Rail Trail Explorer is a pilot project for a central source of trail use planning information, DEEP officials said. The project was supported in part by funding provided by the Federal Highway Administration’s National Recreational Trails Program administered by the CT DEEP in partnership with the CT DOT’s Transportation Alternatives Program and designed by Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc.

Rail Trails in CT

There are four State Park Rail Trails in our state: the Air Line, Hop River, Moosup Valley, and Larkin.

In addition, many sections of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail are part of the state park system. The Air Line and the Hop River State Park Rail Trails were re-connected this summer by a restored bridge over the Willimantic River in Windham. The Air Line and Hop River trails are also connected to sections of our Blue Blazed Hiking Trail System. All trails welcome non-motorized multi use and have stone dust surfaces except for the FCHT which is paved.

The rail trails cover 88 miles and pass through the 23 towns of Andover, Bolton, Chaplin, Colchester, Columbia, Coventry, East Hampton, Hampton, Hebron, Lebanon, Manchester, Middlebury, Naugatuck, Oxford, Plainfield, Pomfret, Putnam, Southbury, Sterling, Thompson, Vernon, and Windham.

Contact the DEEP CT Recreational Trails & Greenways Program for more information 860-424-3578.

Photo Credit: CT.gov