The Mattatuck Trail is an '' Blue-Blazed''

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

trail that winds through

Litchfield County Litchfield County is in northwestern Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, the population was 185,186. The county was named after Lichfield, in England. Litchfield County has the lowest population density of any county in Connecticut and is the ...

and

New Haven County New Haven County is a county in the south central part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, the population was 864,835, making it the third-most populous county in Connecticut. Two of the state's top 5 largest cities, New ...

in Western

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

. The mainline (official "Blue" "non-dot") trail is a fragmented linear trail with a northern trailhead which terminates at the

Mohawk Trail The Mohawk Trail began as a Native American trade route which connected Atlantic tribes with tribes in Upstate New York and beyond. It followed the Millers River, Deerfield River and crossed the Hoosac Range, in the area that is now northwester ...

Mohawk State Forest Mohawk State Forest, also known as Mohawk State Forest/Mohawk Mountain State Park, encompasses over in the towns of Cornwall, Goshen, and Litchfield in the southern Berkshires of Litchfield County, Connecticut. As overseen by the Connecticut ...

in Cornwall Connecticut. The trail's southern terminus is in Peterson Park in Wolcott, Connecticut. Traveling northwestward the trail traverses Buttermilk Falls, several Mattatuck State Forest parcels in Plymouth and into Thomaston before crossing the

Naugatuck River The Naugatuck River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Its waters carve out the Naugatuck River Valley in the w ...

and

Connecticut Route 8 Route 8 is a state highway in Connecticut that runs north–south from Bridgeport, through Waterbury, all the way to the Massachusetts state line where it continues as Massachusetts Route 8. Most of the highway is a four-lane freeway but ...

at Reynolds Bridge. The trail then travels across Black Rock State Park from east to west before passing to the west of the Wigwam, Morris and Pitch Reservoirs in Watertown and Morris. The trail passes west across

Connecticut Route 63 Route 63 is a secondary state highway in the U.S. state of Connecticut, from New Haven up to Canaan, running for . It connects the Greater New Haven area to Northwestern Connecticut via the western suburbs of Waterbury. Route description Route 63 ...

onto the lands of the

White Memorial Conservation Center The White Memorial Conservation Center is a natural history museum and nature center in Litchfield, Connecticut, United States, supported by the White Memorial Foundation. The museum is currently housed in Whitehall, the former residence of White ...

in Litchfield Connecticut where the southeast trail section ends in a parking lot near Connecticut Route 202. There is a new short disconnected segment approximately 2.5 miles to the northwest on Prospect Mountain in the Prospect Mountain Preserve. The trail begins again to the north in Warren Connecticut at the end of Valley Road at the

Shepaug River The Shepaug River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 river in western Connecticut, in the United States. The river originates at the south end of the Shepa ...

and Litchfield-Warren border. It passes on the east side of a Wyantenock State Forest parcel on the west side of the Shepaug and Cairns Reservoirs through Warren before entering another Wyantenock State Forest parcel at the Cornwall town line. It then enters

, briefly crosses into Goshen Connecticut for a very short distance, goes over Mohawk Mountain and Tower before ending at the

near the

Mohawk Mountain Ski Area Mohawk Mountain is a ski area located in Cornwall, Litchfield County, Connecticut. The ski area was built on the northwest slope of Mohawk Mountain by Walt Schoenknecht in 1947. It is a popular destination for both day and night skiers and sno ...

See also

References

Further reading