Explore Ellington, CT

Ellington at a Glance

Part of Tolland County

If you’re looking for the best hiking trails in Ellington this is the complete guide to all the long trails, waterfalls, and history it has to offer.

Ellington has 11 hiking areas for 9.7 miles of trails and 1 boating/fishing area.

Hiking

Town Parks

    • Batz Property –★★– 1.1 miles – Climbs a ridge at the back of the property through town open space
    • Kimball Forest –★★– 0.67 miles – Short but pleasant loop trail
    • Metcalf Preserve –★★– 1 mile – Short double loop with an old foundation

Land Trust

State Parks / Forest

    • Shenipsit State Forest –★★– 2.4 miles – Old forest roads, rutted by off-road vehicles that finally switches to narrow trail

Blue Blaze

The Rest

Boating/Fishing

    • Crystal Lake Boat Launch
    • The Hockanum River has 2 boat launches in town but I wouldn’t recommend paddling these stretches

Originally part of Joshua’s Tract (land deeded by Mohegan Chief Uncas’s son to English colonists),

The town was named in 1809 for Deacon Benjamin Chaplin, an early landowner and surveyor and a deacon of the Mansfield church. Benjamin Chaplin lived along the Natchaug River and before Chaplin died in 1795 bequeathed three hundred pounds ($1,500) to form an ecclesiastical society on the condition that this church be built within a mile and a quarter of his homestead (the church no longer stands).

It became the 124th town in the state when it was incorporated in May of 1822 from parts of Hampton, Mansfield, and Windham.

In July 1974, Chaplin Village the town’s original Main Street (now Chaplin Street) was designated a National Historic District as a good example of 19th century town planning.  The town center was not near usable water power and was bypassed by railroads so was not affected by the same industrialization as other areas.

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