Richard H. Goodwin Trail

Linear Trail in East Lyme, Salem, Lyme, and East Haddam, CT

Parking: See Section List below

Trail Map-Overview      Trail: 13 miles

The Richard H. Goodwin Trail is one of Connecticut’s newest long trails, completed in June of 2016 thanks to the Eightmile River Watershed committee. It is named for Richard Goodwin who led the Connecticut chapter of the Nature Conservancy for 50 years and was chairman of Connecticut College’s arboretum.

The trail travels 13 miles across the towns of:

• East Lyme
• Salem
• Lyme
• East Haddam

The trail is almost entirely within the Eightmile River Wild & Scenic Watershed.  The trail is easy to moderate hiking and fairly well-blazed with yellow diamonds centered with a green “G” though there are several key junctions which could be better blazed expect to take a misstep or two.  Most sections are multi-use (most notable exception is the Yale property) so check the individual pages.

I ran the length of the trail with a friend in March 2020 and at a relaxed pace it took us just under three hours.  After the trail check out nearby Fox Farm Brewery for a beer or a fantastic grinder at Salem Prime Cuts.

Section List:

West to East (exact section distances are rough and still need dialing in)

• Parking on Rt. 82
• Chapal Farm Preserve — 0.75 miles — The western terminus of the property which starts off crossing the Eightmile River and heading gradually uphill
• Parking on Baker Ln
• Eightmile River WMA — 1.1 miles — Heavy beaver activity has flooded two sections of the trail, one requires a short bypass and the other has been rerouted uphill
• Parking on Salem Rd
• Darling Road Preserve — 2 miles — Highlights include the tri-town marker and a side trail to a big old oak
• Hartman Park — 2.6 miles — The trail clips the north edge of the park but passes the Ezra Chapman farm dating back to the 1800s, poor blazing halfway through this section
• Parking at the end of Holmes Rd 
• Nehantic State Forest — 3.4 — Easy traveling with gradual on mostly former and active forest roads
• Parking on Grassy Hill Rd
• Yale Engineering Camp (Private) — 2.4 miles — This section travels remote old forest roads amid stands of mountain laurel, one spot with poor blazing at a hard turn
• Darrow Pond — 0.9 miles — The eastern terminus of the trail is often wet and hilly though well marked except for the very beginning/end
• Parking on Mostowy Rd

Other Sources:

• Eightmile River Wild & Scenic Watershed Official Site
• The Day – The Goodwin Trail: A 14-mile hike from East Lyme to East Haddam (2019)
• Peter Marteka – A 14-Mile Hike Through Four Towns With Few Hints Of Civilization (2016)