Bolton

Town Parks

• Freja Park –★★– 0.88 miles – A gateway park offering access to the Shenipsit, Charter Oak Greenway, Hop River Trail, Bolton Notch and Risley Park
• Herrick Park –★★– 1 mile – Most people come for the sports fields, but there is a somewhat disused hiking loop
• Heritage Farm –★★– 2 miles – The site of a Rochambeau revolutionary war encampment, the grounds are pretty fun to explore
• Indian Notch Park – Unexplored

Land Trust

• Bolton Land Trust
  • Blackledge Marsh – Unexplored
  • Castlerock Lane –★– 0.6 miles – A pleasant but underwhelming out and back trail bookended by private property
  • Edith Toomey Clark Property –★★– 1.5 miles – Accessed off the Hop River Trail these woods offer a few nice surprises
  • Lombardi Ridge Preserve & Bobcat Woods –★★– 3.4 miles — Highlighted by the Rock Hollow spur in simple forest loops
• Manchester Land Conservation Trust
  • Risley Park –★★★– 3 miles – Maintained by CFPA, this has a short loop around the pond or a long loop near Box Mountain

State Parks / Forest

• Bolton Notch State Park –★★★– 2 miles – Highlights include the American Flag overlook and Squaw Cave
• Hop River State Park Trail – 3.6 miles of the trail run through Bolton
  • Steele’s Crossing — 2.3 miles
    • Parking: 29 Steeles Crossing Rd, Bolton, CT
    • Access to Heritage Farm one of Rochambeau’s revolutionary war encampments and Toomey Clark Preserve
    • Maintained by Greenway Ambassador Barbara Amodio
  • Bolton Notch — 1.3 miles
    • Parking: US-6, Bolton, CT
    • This section is also a part of the blue blaze Shenipsit Trail
    • The trail passes through deep rock cuts and has access to the Charter Oak Greenway, Freja Park, Bolton Notch State Park, and Squaw Cave

Blue Blaze

• Shenipsit Trail
  • East Coast Greenway –★★– 0.9 miles – Nice new paved section along I-384, nice for cyclists, not as great for hikers
  • Freja Park –★★– 0.54 miles – The Shenipsit passes an old drive-in before skirting the edge of Notch Pond
  • Hop River Trail –★★– 0.54 miles – These two trails overlap on this stone dust old rail bed
• Risley Park –★★★– 3 miles – Maintained by CFPA, this has a short loop around the pond or a long loop near Box Mountain

The Rest

• Porter/Howard Reservoir –★★★– 5 miles – Only the eastern most trail clips into Bolton, but beautiful looping trails into Manchester
• Charter Oak Greenway – Completed in 2016 this new section parallels I-384 as a link in the East Coast Greenway
  • East: Parking at Bolton Notch
  • West: Parking near Manchester

• Lower Bolton Lake –★★– The largest and busiest of the three lakes, with plenty of room to explore, but not much for standout sites

Coming soon!

Coming soon!