Windham

Hike Windham, CT

(Part of Windham County)

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

Windham has five hiking locations for 10 miles of trails, three boating options, and some giant frogs.

Links

• 2017 Plan of Conservation and Development
• Windham Historical Society
• CTMQ’s Guide to Windham

Explore

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• The pine grove at Allanach-Wolf
• The new bridge and river walk on the Hop River Trail

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Town Parks

• Lauter Park –★★– No trails – Ground to walk around, picnic pavilion, and Willimantic River access
• Willimantic Whitewater Park –★– No trails – Open grounds with a view of a waterfall that hold the weekly farmer’s market and one day hopefully a full whitewater park

Land Trust

• Joshua’s Trust
  • Allanach-Wolf Woodlands –★★– 1.5 miles – Great spot along Lake Marie with an out and back trail
  • Atlantic White Cedar Bog – No trails – Plans for a boardwalk someday
  • Hall Preserve – No trails – Fisherman’s paths near the Mansfield Hollow Dam
• Wyndham Land Trust
  • Cloutier Memorial Forest (Parking Link?)

State Parks / Forest

• Air Line Trail State Park – 6 miles
  • Junction with the Hop River Trail
  • Small lot near 55 Bridge St, Willimantic, CT
  • 2/3rds of a mile road stretch on Riverside Drive through Willimantic
  • Small lots on either side of 460 Beaver Hill Rd, North Windham, CT
    • Connection to trails at Two Sisters Tract
• Beaver Brook State Park –★★– <1 mile – Short trail that fades off into the woods, mostly an area for boating/fishing
• Hop River Trail – 1.4 miles
  • Junction with the Air Line Trail
  • Just one last bridge to renovate before the trail is complete, the rest of the trail starts across the river in Columbia

The Rest

• Frog Bridge – No trails but I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention the giant frogs on the bridge
• Windham Airport Dyke –★★– 1.4 miles – A popular paved walking path between Windham Airport and the Mansfield Hollow Dam (Parking Link) [/expand]

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• Bibbins Pond
• Mansfield Hollow Lake
• Natchaug River
• Shetucket River
• Willimantic River [/expand]

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• Willimantic Brewing Company – great pub in an old post office
• A Cupcake for Later [/expand]

[expand title=”Town History    |expand|” tag=”h3″]

Windham was settled by colonists as early as 1686 and it was incorporated in May 1692 making it the 32nd oldest town in Connecticut.  It named for either Windham in Sussex or from Wymondham in Norfolk.

The first church erected on the Windham Green in 1700 and Windham Center was the historical population center until increasing industrialization made the mills in Willimantic more profitable and populated in the 1800s.

During the Victorian era, Willimantic was the center for the production of silk and cotton thread, and many of the mansions in the Victorian Hill section of Willimantic were built.

In 1985 The American Thread Company, Windham’s largest employer, left the area resulting in a period of decline until the areas recent development.[/expand]

Now go out and hike Windham, CT!