Explore Hampton, CT
Hampton at a Glance
Part of Windham County
If you’re looking for the best hiking trails in Hampton this is the complete guide to all the long trails, secluded forest, and history it has to offer.
Hampton has 12 hiking areas for 31 miles of trails and 2 boating areas.
My Highlights
- Endless trails at Goodwin State Forest
- The surprisingly impressive Cohantic Ledges
- The writer’s cabin and pond at Trail Wood
Hiking
Town Parks
- Cohantic Ledges –★★– <1 mile – Short overgrown trail to a Nipmuck wintering location
- Hampton Reservoir – Unblazed hiking trail that connects to Natchaug State Forest and boating/fishing
- Maurice and Rita Edwards Preserve –★★– 1.8 miles – Adjacent parcels to Goodwin State Forest with a overgrown truck
Land Trust
- Joshua’s Trust
- Hemphill Woods –★★– 1.25 miles – Simple loop hike through several stone walls
- H.E. Preston Nature Sanctuary –★★– 1 mile – Through an active agricultural field, down a hill to the Little River and back again
- Warren Stone Preserve –★– No trails – Accessed by hiking down abandoned Fisk St there is a old farm road along the marsh
- Wolf Den Land Trust
- Blue Flag Meadow –★★– 1.2 miles – Simple rough loop around the pond with access to the Air Line Trail
- Ostby Memorial Forest –★★– 1.3 miles – Easy loop with a beaver pond view, old wells, and a stone foundation
- Joshua’s Trust
State Parks / Forest
- Air Line Trail State Park– 6.8 miles run through town
- Shoulder parking near 55 S Brook Rd Hampton, CT
- Shoulder parking on Potter Rd Hampton, CT
- Shoulder parking near 86-46 Estabrooks Rd Hampton, CT
- Shoulder parking near 229 Station Rd Hampton, CT
- Shoulder parking on Kenyon Rd Hampton, CT
- Goodwin State Forest –★★★★– 10 miles – Packed with trails, boating and fishing on Pine Acres Pond, Governor’s Island, and all the educational opportunities of Goodwin Conservation Education Center yet this park is still a quiet one
- Little River Wildlife Management Area – No trails – Preserves a section of the Little River
- Natchaug State Forest –★★★– 8 miles – Plenty of trails to explore in this old CCC camp plus fishing and swimming in the Natchaug River
- Air Line Trail State Park– 6.8 miles run through town
Blue Blaze
- Natchaug Trail
- Natchaug Trail Southern Terminus –★★– From the root covered shore of Pine Acres Lake through the pines and into Chaplin
- Natchaug Trail
The Rest
- Edwin Way Teale Trail Wood Sanctuary –★★★– 5 miles – A popular bird watching spot with a writer’s cabin, beaver pond, and interesting trails
Boating/Fishing
- Hampton Reservoir – 88 acre pond for boating or fishing
- Pine Acres Lake – 190 acre lake though the northern half is marshy and usually too low for access
- Little River WMA – Small pull off occasionally used for fishing
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The area was originally the territory of the Nipmucks (a local Native American tribe).
It was first settled by colonists in 1712, largely from people of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It had various names over the next 70 years as Canada Parish, Kennedy, and Windham Village.
Hampton is the 94th town incorporated in Connecticut on October 1786 from land in Brooklyn, Canterbury, Mansfield, Pomfret and Windham. The town is named for Hampton in Middlesex, England.
Hampton Hill Village was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The Hemlock Glen Industrial Archeological District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
