Aspetuck Valley Trail

Aspetuck River from Aspetuck Valley Trail in Redding, CT.

The Aspetuck Valley Trail is primarily used for hiking, backpacking, picnicking, and in the winter, snowshoeing.

Portions of the trail are suitable for, and are used for, cross-country skiing. Site-specific activities enjoyed along the route include hunting (very limited), fishing, horseback riding, bouldering and rock climbing (limited). There are signs at the trail heads forbidding mountain biking but they are periodically ignored. Evidence of horse riding and hunting can be found along the trail.

The trail is wooded except for the road walks along Stepney and Foundry roads. The southern section is mostly flat following the river and roads, the northern section is hilly and somewhat rocky.

Trail route

Skunk Cabbage along Poverty Hollow Road portion of Aspetuck Valley Trail in Redding, CT.

The southern terminus of the Aspetuck Valley Trail is a small parking lot on Rock House Road in Easton, Connecticut not too far west of the intersection with Valley Road.

The northern terminus occurs inside Collis P. Huntington State Park at the junction with local trails inside the park. There is a small parking area where the trail crosses Hopewell Road in Redding, Connecticut before it enters the state park. The parking lot is on the east side of Hopewell Road.

From the south heading north the trail follows the Aspetuck River and uses the unimproved Valley Road until it reaches the paved Poverty Hollow Road intersection with Stepney road. There is a dam on the river at Hedmon's Pond at the intersection. The trail diverges from the river via a short walk east on Stepney road and then the trail turns north on the dirt Foundry Road and when Foundry Road ends the trail enters the woods of the Centennial Watershed State Forest for a two-mile stretch before it rejoins both the Aspetuck River and Poverty Hollow Road. After crossing the river and road the trail continues in the state forest for another mile north before reaching the parking lot on Hopewell Road. The hiker can then cross Hopewell Road and continue on into Collis P. Huntington State Park for another 0.4 miles.

Old abandoned farm stone fence in Centennial State Forest along Aspetuck Valley Trail in Newtown, CT.

The Aspetuck Valley Blue-Blazed Trail was created by a collaboration in 2006 between Aquarion Water, the Nature Conservancy and the Connecticut Forest and Park Association.

Northern Terminus of Aspetuck Valley Trail inside Collis P. Huntington State Park.

The mainline Aspetuck Valley trail is blazed with blue rectangles. It is regularly maintained, and is considered easy hiking, with very few sections of rugged and moderately difficult hiking (notably just the climb up to the northern high point near the great Oak tree).

Much of the Aspetuck Valley Trail is close to water and though some swamp areas inland are prone to flooding the trail along the lake shore is mostly on very high ground. There are no camping facilities along the trail and camping is prohibited in the Centennial Watershed State Forest. Trail descriptions are available from a number of commercial and non-commercial sources, and a complete guidebook is published by the Connecticut Forest and Park Association

Weather along the route is typical of Connecticut. This trail does not really have any exposed ridge tops or summits. Snow is common in the winter and may necessitate the use of snowshoes. Ice can form on exposed ledges and summits, making hiking dangerous without special equipment. [9]

Extensive flooding in ponds, puddles and streams usually occurs in the late winter or early spring, overflowing into the trail and causing very muddy conditions. In this case fairly high waterproof boots are recommended. Since some parts of the trail follow forest roads, ruts and tracks from ATVs and four-wheel drive vehicles make be found.

Biting insects can be bothersome during warm weather. Parasitic deer ticks (which are known to carry Lyme disease) are a potential hazard.[9]

Only the trail heads and the middle of the trail are close to (rural) civilization (and are on paved roads). There two very short dirt road walks — along Stepney and Foundry Roads.

Almost all of the trail is adjacent to, or is on lands where hunting and the use of firearms are permitted. Wearing bright orange clothing during the hunting season (Fall through December) is recommended.

Aspetuck Valley Trail path through woods near Towne End Road in Newtown, CT.

As of April 2010 the Centennial Watershed State Forest "Seedling Series" letterbox has been out of commission although the State of Connecticut's Department of Environmental Protection Forestry Division has said that it will be made available again.

• Blue-Blazed Trails
• Aspetuck River
• Aspetuck, Connecticut
• Easton, Connecticut
• Newtown, Connecticut
• Redding, Connecticut
• History of Newtown, Connecticut

Books – Connecticut hiking []

• Colson, Ann T. (2005). Connecticut Walk Book East (19 ed.). Rockfall, Connecticut: Connecticut Forest and Park Association. pp. 1–261. ISBN 0961905255.
• Colson, Ann T. (2006). Connecticut Walk Book West (19 ed.). Rockfall, Connecticut: Connecticut Forest and Park Association. pp. 1–353. ISBN 0961905263.
• Emblidge, David (1998). Hikes in southern New England: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont (1 ed.). Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books. pp. 1–304. ISBN 0-8117-2669-X.
• Keyarts, Eugene (2002). Pietrzyk, Cindi Dale (ed.). Short Nature Walks: Connecticut Guide Book (7 ed.). Guilford, Connecticut: Falcon Publishing. pp. 1–192. ISBN 0-7627-2310-6.
• Laubach, Rene; Smith, Charles W. G. (2007). AMC's Best Day Hikes in Connecticut (1 ed.). Guilford, Connecticut: Appalachian Mountain Club Books. pp. 1–320. ISBN 1-934028-10-X.
• Ostertag, Rhonda; Ostertag, George (2002). Hiking Southern New England (2 ed.). Guilford, Connecticut: Falcon Publishing. pp. 1–336. ISBN 0-7627-2246-0.

Books – Connecticut history and geography []

• De Forest, John (1853). History of the Indians of Connecticut from the earliest known period to 1850. Hartford, Connecticut: Wm. Jas. Hamersley. pp. 1–509.
• Hayward, John (1857). New England Gazetteer: Containing Descriptions of the States, Counties, Cities and Towns of New England (2 ed.). Boston, Massachusetts: Otis Clapp. pp. 1–704.
• Trumbull, Benjamin (1797). A Complete History of Connecticut - Civil and Ecclesiastical. Vol. I (1818 printing ed.). New Haven, Connecticut: Maltby, Goldsmith & Co. and Samuel Wadsworth. pp. 1–1166.
• Trumbull, Benjamin (1797). A Complete History of Connecticut - Civil and Ecclesiastical. Vol. II (1818 printing ed.). New Haven, Connecticut: Maltby, Goldsmith & Co. and Samuel Wadsworth. pp. 1–1166.

Specific Links for this trail:

• WalkCT page on the Aspetuck Valley Trail
• Aquarion Water Trail Use Rules
• Aquarion Aspetuck Valley Trail Map and Permit

Government Links (State and Municipal)

• State of Connecticut - Centennial Watershed State Forest
• State of Connecticut - Aspetuck Valley Trail Map/Permit/Rules
• Connecticut State Forests - Seedling Letterbox Series - Clues for Centennial Watershed State Forest