Connecticut bike trails offer a favorable combination of accessibility and natural scenery. Our favorite Connecticut bike trail is the Hop River State Park Trail. Narrow cuts and lush canopies make for a beautiful ride from start to finish. This trail also forms part of the East Coast Greenway, a 3000-mile bike tour down the Atlantic Coast that links Canada to Key West,
Larkin State Park Bike Trail
Florida. If you have a few days–or live in Connecticut, you won’t want to miss the Connecticut B&B Bike Trail, which offers eight different bicycling routes that are supported by bed & breakfasts along the way. The Bucolic Bethlehem trail–starting in Bethelehem CT, is a 30-mile, figure-8-shaped trail through orchards, farms, fields, forests, nature conservancies and lake views. Some other favorites are the Air Line State Park trails and the 10-mile Larkin State Park Trail that connects Middlebury and Southbury, passing horse farms, ponds, wetlands and beautiful streams.
While paved trails provide almost unlimited road bicycling opportunities, Connecticut is also home to many mountain biking options as well. If speed is your thing, Powder Ridge Mountain Park in Middlefield, Connecticut offers chairlifts for gravity-fed trails.
Connecticut Bike Trails
- Branford Trolley Trail – 0.5 mile – concrete, crushed stone, gravel
- Trolley Trail (CT) – 0.75 mile – asphalt
- Cheney Rail Trail – 1 mile – crushed stone
- Savin Rock Trail – 1.2 miles – asphalt, concrete
- Stratton Brook State Park Trail – 1.2 miles – asphalt, cinder, crushed stone – Loop Route (GPX track, TCX course)
- Railroad Ramble – 1.7 miles – asphalt, dirt, grass
- Derby Greenway – 1.85 miles – asphalt
- Putnam River Trail – 2 miles – asphalt
- Ridgefield Rail Trail – 2.3 miles – gravel
- Shoreline Greenway Trail – 2.3 miles – crushed stone – Partial route (GPX track, TCX course)
- Kress Family Trail – 2.5 miles – dirt
- Sue Grossman Still River Greenway – 2.9 miles – asphalt – Route (GPX track, TCX course)
- Billings Trail – 3.3 miles – dirt
- Quinebaug River Trail – 4 miles – asphalt – Partial route (GPX track, TCX course)
- Vernon Rails-to-Trails (Hop River State Park Rockville Spur) – 4 miles – crushed stone – Extended route (GPX track, TCX course)
- CTfastrak Multi-Use Trail – 4.4 miles – asphalt, concrete
- Middlebury Greenway – 4.4 miles – asphalt – Partial route (GPX track, TCX course)
- Windsor Locks Canal State Park Trail – 4.5 miles – asphalt – Down-and-back route (GPX track, TCX course)
- New Milford River Trail – 5 miles – asphalt, crushed stone, dirt – Extended route (GPX track, TCX course)
- Naugatuck River Greenway – 5.4 miles – asphalt – Partial route (GPX track, TCX course)
- Moosup Valley State Park Trail – 5.8 miles – ballast, crushed stone, dirt, grass, gravel, sand – Down-and-back route (GPX track, TCX course)
- Norwalk River Valley Trail – 5.8 miles – asphalt – Partial route (GPX track, TCX course)
- Larkin State Park Trail – 10.4 miles – cinder, crushed stone, dirt, gravel – Route (GPX track, TCX course)
- Pequonnock River Trail – 12.8 miles – asphalt, crushed stone – Partial route (GPX track, TCX course)
- Charter Oak Greenway – 13.4 miles – asphalt
- Farmington River Trail – 14.9 miles – asphalt – Route (GPX track, TCX course)
- Hop River State Park Trail – 20 miles – crushed stone – Route (GPX track, TCX course)
- Farmington Canal Heritage Trail – 40 miles – asphalt, cinder, crushed stone, grass, gravel – Continuous route (GPX track, TCX course)
- Air Line State Park Trail – 55.9 miles – gravel – Partial route (GPX track, TCX course)
If you know of (or have ridden and created) a more accurate one-way route on RideWithGPS for any of these Connecticut bike trails, please let us know so that we can improve this page.
Connecticut Trails on the East Coast Greenway
Of the trails included in the list above, the following are currently part of the East Coast Greenway. The mileage counts reflect the portion of each trail that is on the Greenway. There are a total of 200 trail miles that make up the Connecticut-based East Coast Greenway. For the most part, these trails include a diverse collection of different terrains and backdrops: coastal, inland, farms, urban and parks. The eastern side of Connecticut is the most rural area between Boston and Washington, D.C. Several rail trails, including the Air Line Trail and the Hop River Trail, run through this area, connecting quaint towns such as Willimantic and passing through forests and farmlands.
In the middle of Connecticut, 47 miles of East Coast Greenway are nearing completion and are a favorite of many Greenway users. Southwest of New Haven, the interim on-road trail abuts the coast through the suburbs to the Sound Shore communities at the New York state border.
And, don’t forget the connection between New Haven and Greenwich with its many scenic views.
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- Moosup Valley State Park Trail – 1.5 miles
- Quinebaug River Trail – 3.8 miles
- Air Line State Park Trail – 10.1 miles
- Hop River State Park Trail – 12 miles
- Charter Oak Greenway – 10.2 miles
- Farmington Canal Heritage Trail – 35.6 miles
- Savin Rock Trail – 1.7 miles
Connecticut Bicycling Resources
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- Connecticut bicycle club
- Connecticut bicycle shops
- Connecticut bike routes (extensive list of CT bike trails)
Connecticut Bicycle Tour Companies
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- CT Bike Tours (North Haven, VT)
- Bicycle Tour Company (Kent, CT)
- International Bicycle Tours (Ivoryton, CT)