The Metacomet Trail is a Blue-Blazed hiking trail that traverses the Metacomet Ridge of central Connecticut and is a part of the newly designated New England National Scenic Trail. Despite being easily accessible and close to large population centers, the trail is considered remarkably rugged and scenic. The route includes many areas of unique ecologic, historic, and geologic interest. Notable features include waterfalls, dramatic cliff faces, woodlands, swamps, lakes, river flood plain, farmland, significant historic sites, and the summits of Talcott Mountain and the Hanging Hills. The Metacomet Trail is maintained largely through the efforts of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association.
On March 30, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 establishing the New England National Scenic Trail (and two other national scenic trails).
The combination of the Metacomet, Monadnock and Mattabesett trails is also often referred to as the 3-M, MMM or Metacomet-Monadnock-Mattabesett trail. The New England National Scenic Trail includes all or almost all of the MMM trails as well as the new extension trail from the southernmost point on the Mattabesett Trail through Guilford, Connecticut to the northern shore of Long Island Sound.
Trail description
The Metacomet Trail extends from the Connecticut/ Massachusetts border south through Hartford and northern New Haven counties in Connecticut. The southern terminus of the trail is located just east of the Hanging Hills on U.S. Route 5, north of the city of Meriden, in the town of Berlin, Connecticut; the northern terminus is located in the hamlet of Rising Corner, part of Suffield, Connecticut, southwest of Springfield, Massachusetts. The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail in Massachusetts and the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway in New Hampshire continue the footway north from the Metacomet Trail another to central New Hampshire. The Mattabesett Trail picks up where the Metacomet Trail leaves off in Berlin and continues south to Totoket Mountain then northeast to the Connecticut River in Middletown.
Significant networks of shorter hiking trails intersect the Metacomet Trail, most notably on Talcott Mountain, the Hanging Hills, and Ragged Mountain.
The Metacomet Trail is primarily used for hiking, backpacking, picnicking, and in the winter, snowshoeing. Portions of the trail are suitable for, and are used for, mountain biking and cross-country skiing. Site-specific activities enjoyed along the route include hunting, fishing, horseback riding, boating, bouldering, rock climbing (access), and swimming.
Trail route
The Metacomet Trail traverses the trap rock Metacomet Ridge which extends from Long Island Sound to the Massachusetts/ Vermont border. This ridge, rising hundreds of feet above the Connecticut River, Farmington River, and Quinnipiac River valleys, is a prominent landscape feature of central Connecticut. From south to north, the trail uses the ridges of the Hanging Hills, Short Mountain, Ragged Mountain, Bradley Mountain, Pinnacle Rock, Rattlesnake Mountain, Farmington Mountain, Talcott Mountain, Hatchet Hill, Peak Mountain, and West Suffield Mountain. Abrupt vertical cliffs with visible talus slopes and frequent viewpoints are common throughout. Views are generally to the west from West Suffield Mountain south through Ragged Mountain; with views in all directions at varying points in the Hanging Hills. The Farmington River cuts through the ridgeline between Hatchet Hill and Talcott Mountain in the Tariffville Gorge (east of Simsbury). Historic features along the trail include Old Newgate Prison museum and copper mine in East Granby; Heublein Tower on Talcott Mountain with expansive view of four states; the Hill-Stead museum in Farmington, Connecticut, notable for its French impressionist painting collection and gardens; and Hubbard Park of the Hanging Hills of Meriden, designed with the help of famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and crowned with a small observation tower known as Castle Craig. The trap rock ridges and talus slopes of the Metacomet Ridge are also home to several unique microclimate ecosystems that support species of plants that are unusual or endangered in this part of New England, and are a seasonal migration path for raptors. Viewshed from the ledges include agrarian land, suburbs, small towns, river corridors, the eastern Berkshires ridgeline, and metropolitan Meriden and Hartford.