Hiking Season Just Got Better in Farmington

Some tremendous improvements have been made recently to the Metacomet section of the New England Trail

The leaves are changing, the days are cooler and it's time to lace up your walking shoes for the fall hiking season. Kick off your explorations by visiting some of the awesome improvements made recently to the Metacomet section of the New England Trail (NET) in Farmington.

Thanks to coordinated efforts by the Town of Farmington and Connecticut Forest & Park Association (CFPA), the trail between Rattlesnake Cliffs and Route 4 has been transformed from a segment in distress to a trail worthy of its designation as a National Scenic Trail.

This summer, CFPA's summer trail crew installed over 100 feet of new boardwalk south of Route 6 on property owned by Chase Communications. The trail, which is a primary route for hikers eager to visit Will Warren's Den, Rattlesnake Cliffs and Pinnacle Rock, had been experiencing seasonal drainage issues. Consequently, the footpath had become a muddy slog and the trail was beginning to widen. To keep walkers on a single path and to prevent the area from eroding, a large stretch of elevated walkway was installed. The work was hot and dirty, but the new structure was worth it.

Further north, the trail between Route 6 and Route 4 has historically struggled with problems common to hiking trails in a growing suburban community: lack of optimal trail location, "road hikes" and subdivision squeezes. The half-mile "road hike" along Poplar Hill Road and Mountain Road has always been a drag on the trail.

Dreams of relocating the trail off of Poplar Hill Road began seriously in 1997 with the Town of Farmington's acquisition of the 56-acre Farmington Reservoir and five acres of open space from the Dunham Court Subdivision. Suddenly, a potential off-road path between Route 6 and Mountain Road seemed possible, but the reality of this would prove to be many years still to come.

In 2000, with the assistance of the State's Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition Grant Program, the Town protected nearly 50 acres along the top and eastern slope of the Metacomet Ridge above the Farmington Reservoir. This purchase, together with the Farmington Reservoir property to the east, permanently protected more than 100 acres of contiguous open space, and allowed the trail to be relocated onto the scenic ridge. Hikers are rewarded by the rugged topography of the Metacomet Ridge and sweeping vistas to the west.

Despite these great successes, hikers still had to trek a half mile along Poplar Hill Road and Mountain Road before continuing north on the historic carriage path that runs along the eastern boundary of the Hill-Stead Museum property. But more trouble brewed even here on this tranquil path that reminisced of a slower time and horse drawn carriages. With great dismay, it was discovered that the carriage path was not on the protected Hill-Stead Museum property, but rather on multiple private properties in the Farmington Ridge subdivision. While not an immediate issue, as much of the Blue-Blazed Hiking Trail System exists because of the generosity of private property owners, the trail ran within feet of two yet unbuilt homes that would certainly prove the demise of the trail's continuity. The race was on to find a new trail route before these homes were built. Luckily, in 2001 the Hill-Stead Museum agreed to allow the trail to be relocated onto its property, adding yet another gem to the trail's string of iconic sites.

With the trail now relocated onto protected land to both the north and the south, CFPA set its sights on the Poplar Hill Road section. In 2003, at the request of CFPA, the Farmington Land Acquisition Committee added a new property, 70 Mountain Road, to its Land Acquisition List. The property was critical to moving the trail off the road and into the woods. This step forward began what would become a decade-long process of negotiations and re-negotiations. Yet perseverance is the key to many a success, and in 2015, the Town of Farmington closed on the 11 acres of 70 Mountain Road, making the relocation all but assured.

Success was near, but 300 feet still stood between Town-owned open space and Mountain Road. So close…yet so far! CFPA was fortunate to find generous benefactors in the Kwas and Pickens families, who agreed to let the trail cross onto their property. CFPA took no time in rallying their volunteers and their summer trail crew to layout and clear the new path.

So here we are, on the 20th anniversary of this journey, celebrating a job well done, and thanking the many people involved in achieving these goals. And what better way to celebrate such an achievement than to gather friends and family on a crisp autumn day and enjoy a hike and companionship on this beautifully renewed trail. You'll be so happy that you did.