Willimantic River Hiking Trail Guide

Willimantic River Hiking Trail Guide

The Willimantic River Hiking Trail follows the river seven miles north from Mansfield to Tolland.  I hiked the length of the trail in spring 2021 and was able to easily navigate the entire length.  Surprisingly the first view of the river is over a half mile into the trail and the first time you can touch the water is over two miles in.

Unfortunately the Willimantic River Alliance seems to be inactive, so development of the trail is on pause.  However, hopefully at some point in the future the trail can be extended in either direction.

• Willimantic River Alliance (archive link)
• Willimantic River Paddler’s Guide

Section List

• Parking on Plains Road
• River Park (Mansfield) — 0.3 miles
• 0.25 mile road walk Left on Depot Rd ➟ Right on Rt. 44 ➟ Left at the driveway before the tracks
• Spring Manor Trail — 1.3 miles
• Merrow Meadow Park — 0.5 miles
• Parking on Merrow Road
• 0.1 mile road walk over the bridge on Merrow Road
• Parking on Riverview Drive
• Riverview Trail Park — 0.2 miles
• 0.9 mile road walk on Riverview Drive ➟ Right onto Mountain View Rd ➟ Straight onto Jones Crossing Road ➟ Cross Rt. 195 to Dimock Road
• Parking on Dimock Road
• King Riverside Conservation Area — 1.1 miles
• Nedweid Conservation Area — 0.25 miles
• 0.6 mile road walk on Fox Ridge Lane ➟ Cross S River Road and down the driveway for River Park
• Parking down the driveway on S River Road
• River Park (Tolland) / Becker Property — 1.3 miles

Possible Trail Extensions

Connecting north to Tolland’s Heron Cove Park and then to the Nye Holman State Forest. There are about 4 parcels of private property that would require easements but would lengthen the trail by at least 2.5 miles.

Heading south could be a short road walk to Coventry’s Williams Preserve and the adjacent Joshua’s Trust Couch Preserve then on to the Eagleville Preserve and state property. You could connect this without easements right now and add 3 miles of trail. Pulling off both would double the total length of the trail to about 12 miles.