Trail description: The Air Line State Park Trail is 50 mile multi-use trail that was declared a National Recreation Trail in 2001. A few sections of the trail may not yet be complete: between Lebanon and Windham, for instance.
The trail follows the former Air Line Railroad built in the late 1900s between Boston and New York. Its name came from the fact that it followed the most direct line between the two cities. The northeastern part of the trail is a section of the East Coast Greenway, a 2,500-mile recreation path under development from Canada to the Florida Keys. Access fee: Towns along the trail: East Hampton, Hebron, Windham, Chaplin, Hampton, Pomfret, Putnam, CT Web site:CT State Parks Trail map: Available on the park's website Trail surface: Gravel, except where it is not yet upgraded. Designated activities: Bicycling, walking and cross-country skiing, (snowmobiling in the state forests) Facilities on the trail: Points of interest: Lyman Viaduct, the tallest railroad bridge in Connecticut, spans 1,100 feet across a deep gorge. Lodging: Avon and Simsbury have a few inns and B&Bs. Hartford has many choices of accommodation. Camping: Mashamoquet Brook State Park near Pomfret has campsites. Commercial campgrounds are located in East Hampton and Chaplin. Bike shops: Weather forecast:Hartford Tourism info: Northeast Connecticut Visitors District Getting to the trail: Parking is located off Route 85 in Hebron, next to Route 85 and also off Grayville Road. Parking is also available on weekends at the Park and Ride lot on Route 2 at the Route 149 exit in Colchester. Map of local region:Hebron | East Granby
Trail name: Airline State Park Trail Times biking the trail: Once Date of last visit: Sept, 2004 Sections that I biked: western terminus at East Hampton to Rt.2 exit 16 My favourite sections of the trail: Best time to go: fall Trail marking: Very good Trail maintenance: Very good Rating: 4.5 stars What I liked: Beautiful scenery, few signs of human habitation. Also fun from the aspect of railroad history (Lyman viaduct, etc.) What I disliked: Comments: Accessing the trail from CT Rt 2 exit 16 allows you to go either east or west for quite a ways, and if you're doing the East Hampton section, making exit 16 "home base" gives you more downhill on the return trip. (450 ft elevation @ East Hampton vs. 260 ft @ exit 16)
Submitted by: Roy from: CT Date submitted: Sept 17, 2004
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Trail name: Air Line State Park Trail Times biking the trail: Few Date of last visit: July, 2004 Sections that I biked: Chaplin to Pomfret My favourite sections of the trail: None Best time to go: Trail marking: Poor Trail maintenance: Fair Rating: 1 stars What I liked: Layout What I disliked: This trails goes through tons of swamps- swamps loaded with all sorts of flying biting insects so bring lots of repellent! This trails was described as 'hardpack' & 'gravel'- neither is true. This portion of he trail should be traversed by those people in good shape & with trail bikes. The ground is soft & sandy or else murderously difficult with deep pockets of shark-tooth sized piecestone. The portion of the trail that crosses the first road (at the 12-mile mark) has absolutely no indication of where the trail resumes. It resumes directly across the road, behind some bushes & to the left. Absolutely no signage exists. On the plus side, no one uses the trail. Comments: Use this trail if you are in good health & have at least a hybrid bike if not a trail bike. This is not a particularly enjoyable portion of the airline trail. Submitted by: Mutt & Jeff from: Windham, CT Date submitted: July 19, 2004
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