NEWCOMB, N.Y. — The 400-mile trek of a radio-collared moose named Alice is the inspiration for a proposed hiking trail from Ontario’s forested Algonquin Park to the heart of New York’s Adirondack Mountains.
Planners of the A2A — Algonquin to Adirondack — Trail liken it to Spain’s famous Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route, with the added benefit of preserving an important wildlife migration corridor between two vast wilderness regions.
“This is one of last great migration routes. It’s an area where wildlife can regenerate itself,” said Emily Conger, chair of the trail committee for the A2A Collaborative, the Ontario-based nonprofit conservation group behind the project.
Still in the planning stage with no definite route, the A2A will combine existing trails and roads following the general track taken by Alice, a moose radio-collared by New York wildlife workers in 1998 and released in a remote forest area in the central Adirondack town of Newcomb.
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For two years, researchers tracked Alice as she swam across lakes, traversed the U.S. Army’s Fort Drum, swam the St. Lawrence River and loped across Canada’s busy Highway 401 before eventually reaching the 3,000-square-mile Algonquin Park, where she died of unknown causes. Her remains were found in 2001.
“We want to create a trail system that is not only a destination, but also elevates the concept of wildlife corridors and connectivity of landscapes,” said Sarah Walsh, with New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation who serves privately as A2A’s volunteer president. “People will be able to experience the way Alice made this journey.”
Sarah Walsh, president of the trail committee for the A2A Collaborative in Lansdowne, Ontario, pauses at the shore of Rich Lake along a trail at the Adirondack Interpretive Center, where the 400-mile A2A Trail is proposed to begin.
( Mary Esch/Associated Press )
The Adirondack section of the trail most likely will start in Newcomb at the Adirondack Interpretive Center, a nature center where the College of Environmental Science and Forestry tracked Alice. From there, it will meander through hardwood and evergreen forest interspersed with bogs, streams and lakes.
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A tentative plan includes 192 miles of existing hiking trails, 56 miles of rail-trail, 60 miles of main roads and 115 miles of back roads. Coordinators plan to engage communities along the route to provide amenities for trail-walkers.
Conger envisions something similar to the 375-mile stretch of the Camino de Santiago trail in Spain that she walked in 2014, starting in the rugged Pyrenees and traveling through villages, vineyards, farms and forests. Along the way, pilgrims were welcomed into cafes, shops and inns in communities that had a thriving tourist industry because of the trail.
“The A2A can bring a similar economic boost for small towns in northern New York and eastern Ontario,” Conger said.
A series of trail-promoting events is in the works along the Canadian section starting this fall, with a goal of seeing the full route completed in five years, Conger said.
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Neil Woodworth, executive director of the Adirondack Mountain Club, which has been building and maintaining trails in the region for more than 90 years, said the A2A Trail is feasible but will take considerable resources. The club hasn’t been asked to work on the A2A, but for the next few years, Woodworth said his organization is committed to building the Adirondack leg of the 4,600-mile North Country National Scenic Trail that stretches from North Dakota to Lake Champlain.
Walsh concedes that the A2A Trail has many obstacles outside the park boundaries, but the organization will work with civic groups, greenways, land trusts and others to design a route that communities will embrace. She said the Appalachian Trail, maintained by 31 trail clubs and many partnerships from Georgia to Maine, provides inspiration.
“It took decades to complete the Appalachian Trail,” she said. “We’ve only been working on this for less than two years.”
The Henry David Thoreau Bridge and its yellow pine timbers from below at Hidden Valley Preserve in Washington, Conn. Read more here.
(Peter Marteka / Hartford Courant)
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A new segment of the Air Line Linear Trail crosses over Pine Brook heading toward Bolton. This is part of the Charter Oak Greenway. Read more here.
(Peter Marteka / Hartford Courant)
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Beavers have dammed up a stream and created a pond at the Avalonia Land Conservancy in North Stonington. Read more here.
(Peter Marteka / Hartford Courant)
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Another view of the Truss bridge across Pootatuck River in Sandy Hook. Read more here.
(Peter Marteka / Hartford Courant)
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A sign identifies the foundations of a vehicle maintenance garage at the old CCC Camp Hadley in Madison. Read more here.
(Peter Marteka / Hartford Courant)
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A trail sign directs hikers where to go on the Naugatuck Trail in Woodbridge. Read more here.
(Peter Marteka / Hartford Courant)
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Wadsorth Falls in Middlefield during the height of a cold snap last week. Find out more here.
(Peter Marteka / Hartford Courant)
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Meadows State Park in Haddam is so much more than just a boat launch. Read more here.
(Peter Marteka)
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Along the boardwalk (sorry, you can’t go under it), anyone can enjoy the experience of dipping their toes in the water, sifting through a pile of colorful slipper shells or sitting on a bench and watching a gull dismember a crab that had washed ashore. Read more here.
(Peter Marteka)
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Take a trip along the 5.5-mile-long Naugatuck Trail to Egypt Brook and Beacon Cap in Beacon Falls and Bethany. Read more here.
(Peter Marteka)
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The 2-mile-long loop trail is mostly along grassy surfaces with a moderate hike to the top of Cider Hill. Read more here.
(Peter Marteka)
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Spiderweed and Hubbard Brook are in the southeastern portion of the city along a busy Route 9 and near Pratt & Whitney’s Middletown plant, but once inside the natural world it all disappears. Read more here.
(Peter Marteka / Hartford Courant)
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Spruce Brook Falls is known for its romantic scenery. Read more here.
(Peter Marteka)
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The trail begins along the banks of the river near its outlet into New Haven Harbor and Long Island Sound. Read more here.
(Peter Marteka / Hartford Courant)
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Cheshire’s Ives Farm is a place for all seasons. Read more here.
(Peter Marteka)
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The Van Vleck Farm and Nature Sanctuary with more than four miles of trails is part of more than 2,000 acres owned by the Flanders Nature Center and Land Trust. Read more here.
(Peter Marteka)
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Pleasure Beach was formerly known as “New England’s Cony Island.” Read more here.
(Peter Marteka)
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The Air Line trail stretches over 20 miles through Portland, Willimantic, and other Connecticut towns. Read more here.
(Peter Marteka)
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The preserve was created when Rufus and Leslie Stillman donated 40 acres in 1978. An additional 37 acres was donated by Nancy Danaher in 1997. Read more here.
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In addition to the fields, the property includes wooded areas along the southern and northern portions of the parcel. Huge maples and oak trees grow along stone walls that twist and turn along the undulating hills overlooking the Hammonasset. Read more here.
(Peter Marteka)
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Views from the top of Chauncey Peak include the Hanging Hills and the skyline of New Haven and Long Island Sound. Read more here.
(Peter Marteka)
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Welcome to Branford’s Ecology Park – formerly known as “Mount Trashmore,” where residents brought their trash for decades, contractors dumped their debris and garbage trucks made countless trips to the top to empty their containers. Read more here.
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An area of the Roxbury Land Trust’s 56-acre Brian E. Tierney Preserve known as “the cascades” near the site of an old saw mill. Read more here.
(Peter Marteka)
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Sheep Farm, named for the sheep that once grazed on the property, was purchased by the Groton Open Space Association in 2010. Since then the group has been trying to restore some of the fields and meadows that have become overgrown. Read more here.
(Peter Marteka)
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Take Wilbur Cross Highway, or Route 15, to exit 58. Follow Route 34 to Route 110 across the Housatonic River. Take a right at Indian Well State Park and follow to the railroad crossing. A small parking area is near the tracks. Visit sheltonconservation.org and click on “trails” for a map of the mountain.
(Peter Marteka)
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The southern end of the New England Trail, a national scenic trail that runs from Long Island Sound in Guilford to the Massachusetts/New Hampshire border. This is the southern terminus at Chittenden Park in Guilford. Read more here.
(Peter Marteka)
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The Shenipsit Trail in Marlborough offers a path that goes along local roads for several miles, bringing hikers to a place they can safely cross the highway at a nearby bridge.
(Peter Marteka)
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The Mount Hope River, flowing low in July, travels through Iron Mine Valley Preserve. Also in Ashford, Pixie Falls boasts rushing waters for hikers to enjoy. Read more here.
(Peter Marteka)
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Macroni Site is home to one of the highest points on the Outer Cape, giving it one of the best views not only of the moors and dunes along the Atlantic, but also out to Cape Cod Bay. Read more on Cape Cod hikes here.
(John Woike)
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Dividend Park in Rocky Hill has expanded its acreage, trails and its popularity. Read more.
(Peter Marteka / Hartford Courant)
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The Manmade And Natural Mix In Scantic River State Park. Read more.
(Peter Marteka / Hartford Courant)
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The 140-acre Lilly Preserve connects to the 24-acre van Deusen Preserve which connects to the 59-acre Baldwin Preserve. My connect-the-preserves journey began at Baldwin after traveling down the dirt portion of Lower County Road off Route 317. Read more.
(Peter Marteka / Hartford Courant)
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At 5,543 square miles, Connecticut is the third smallest and fourth mostly densely populated state. But pick any town or city from Andover to Woodstock and chances are there is a land trust preserve, state park, town-owned open space or Connecticut Forest & Park Association “blue-blazed trail” to explore.
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The 2,189-mile-long Appalachian Trail follows virtually unbroken mountainous terrain from Georgia to Maine, passing through many states including New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts on the way. There is fine day-hiking with excellent views within easy driving distance of much of Connecticut.
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Outdoor Dining: Where Are The Patios?
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The Connecticut Forest & Park Association’s Mattatuck Trail which travels through the heart of Litchfield Land Trust’s Prospect Mountain Preserve. Read more.
(Peter Marteka)
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The Madison Land Conservation Trust is sponsoring Trail Hike Challenge. Participants will be able to hike 22 of the trust’s trails and find stamps to win a hat. Story and photos.
(Peter Marteka)
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The 198-acre Hoffman Evergreen Preserve in the northwest corner of Stonington may resemble Canada, thanks to Robert Hoffman, who uses his property to plant over 100,000 evergreen seedlings. Story and photos.
(Peter Marteka)
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The 605-acre Kettletown State Park is home to charcoal hearths, overlooks and stunning beauty of gorges along Kettletown Brook. A 125-foot dam overlooks the manmade Lake Zoar, offering amazing views. Story and photos.
(Peter Marteka)
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The trail resides on what used to be a railroad line running through the state. Today, it is a often flooded trail, with improvements in the works featuring improved drainage and stone dust. Story and photos.
(Peter Marteka / Hartford Courant)
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The Lone Pine Trail crosses a small stream flowing from the pond, and it is hard to imagine this waterway eventually becomes the Coginchaug and leads to one of the state’s prettiest waterfalls - the thundering Wadsworth Falls. Story and photos(Peter Marteka / Hartford Courant)
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A loop trail was recently blazed through the preserve and passes along the banks of the tranquil river to a woods road. The trail loops along the road to a high point with distant, seasonal views south across Lyme - one of the prettiest towns along the state’s shoreline. Story and photos here.(Peter Marteka / Hartford Courant)
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The 83.3-acre C.W. Luce Conservation area in Tolland includes a 1.5-mile loop trail and is next to the state’s Charter Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary. Story and pictures here.(Stephen Dunn / The Hartford Courant)
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A trail marked with red blazes takes Hurd Park visitors along the Connecticut River to a huge jetty made of old quarry stones that juts out into the waterway. Story and pictures here.(Peter Marteka)
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Here are some of the best destinations to view Long Island Sound without getting your feet wet.
(Stephen Dunn/ Courant flile photo)
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A few years ago, after visiting all the “big and famous” waterfalls in the state, I crowned Enders Falls as the king of Connecticut’s grand plunges. Well, how did I know Connecticut had a state park that reached into Massachusetts and showcased a waterfall that would force Enders to abdicate the throne? Read Peter Marteka’s column about this hike and see pictures here.(Peter Marteka)
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There is a parking area along Route 66 at the Meriden/Middlefield border that is usually full no matter what time of the year. It’s the access point for the final leg of the Mattabesett Trail, which winds north to Higby Mountain and eventually Lamentation Mountain. Next time you’re tempted to do that hike, don’t. You can get your kicks on the other side of Route 66 instead, high across a traprock ridge known as Beseck Mountain. Included in the journey are stunning views across the bottomless Black Pond, an overlook from the top of a revitalized ski slope and the sight of Long Island across a shimmering Long Island Sound. Read more and see pictures here.(Peter Marteka, pmarteka@courant.com)
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After a visit to Little Laurel Lime Park in Seymour, Peter Marteka added its caves to his short list of caves to visit in Connecticut. Thar’s marble in them thar hills, he says, and that’s a prime ingredient for the creation of caves, plus, of course, a few centuries of New England elements and erosion. Pictures and story here.(Peter Marteka, pmarteka@courant.com)
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A visit to the Dark Hollow Brook area of the Meshomasic State Forest in Glastonbury will ignite that inner child when you explore the abandoned former dam of the East Hartford Water Co., or slosh underneath an old culvert built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in an area known as the “10 curves” of the Old Route 2. Pictures and story here.(Peter Marteka, pmarteka@courant.com)
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When people think of Wadsworth, the main image is the waterfall or the swimming hole. But if you stick only to the main trail, you will miss a spectacular stone arch bridge. Story and pictures here.(Stephen Dunne, sdunn@courant.com)
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A neighboring tree farm from the Casertano property offers a view towards Castle Craig in Meriden. Cheshire offers two hikes, the Casertano property off Marion Road and the Brooke Preserve off Sperry Road. Story and photos here.(MICHAEL McANDREWS / Hartford Courant)
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At a moderate pace, the Pine Acres Pond Trail in Goodwin State Park can be hiked in about two hours. The trail offers a wealth of diverse terrain and vegetation. Read story and see photos here.(Patrick Raycraft / praycraft@courant.com)
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The dam of Lake Hammonasset has entombed what was known as Nineveh Falls in Killingworth although the area’s rapids and plunges still remain. According to local legend - a Native American woman hearing of her brave’s death during battle plunged to her death. The brave, upon returning and hearing of the news, also leaped from the rocks. Read story here.(Peter Marteka, pmarteka@courant.com)
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At Hatchery Brook, an easy, level red-blazed trail leads from the parking area across several fields, with bluebirds peeking out of wooden nesting boxes and butterflies and bees working the wildflowers. The trail enters a forest filled with beech trees and passes the Scheer Cabin. The trail runs along the top of a marsh to a connector trail that splits with an orange-blazed loop going through a field with views out to the Hanging Hills and a yellow-blazed trail climbing to the former camp. A blue-blazed trail wraps around the former camp that once included a swimming area with a concrete dam and various camp structures. A yellow-blazed trail leads to a broken asphalt road that takes visitors to the top of a ridge with views of the surrounding area. The trails wind along a traprock ridge before bringing visitors back to the fields. Read more here.(Peter Marteka, pmarteka@courant.com)
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Babcock Pond Wildlife Management Area in Colchester is an artist’s palette filled with a blot of meadows, a squirt of swamps, a spot of lily-covered ponds and smudge of pine forests. It’s up to you to create-your-own hike masterpiece because there is one main road bisecting the more than 1,500 acres of forest, swamp and ponds and miles of unmarked trails snaking through the natural world canvas. Read story and see photos here.(Peter Marteka, pmarteka@courant.com)
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The Mad River, a waterway, running from Cedar Lake in Bristol to the Naugatuck River in Waterbury, helped power the history of the Wolcott. The Mattatuck Trail runs from Wolcott northwest to Mohawk Mountain in Cornwall, is marked by blue blazes. It winds along an old road and you quickly reach the highlight of the trip about a half-mile into the journey. At what is known as “Mad River Crossing,” two bridges cross a complex of waterfalls and gorges. Read story and see photos here.(By PETER MARTEKA | Hartford Courant)
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Barn Island Wildlife Management Area is a 1,013-acre state property with miles of trails through woodlands and marsh and a large public boat launch that provides easy access to some very special coastal water. Barn Island may not have a beach of its own, but it is large and worth exploring, and provides access to some nice offshore beaches. Read story and see pictures here.(Mark Mirko / mmirko@courant.com)
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The 600-acre preserve in the northern portion of Guilford is home to more than 15 miles of trails, many of them snaking around the beautiful Upper Lake, past the pristine Iron Stream and through the valley of Maupus Brook. The preserve has level, easy-to-follow trails marked with blue, green, orange, red, violet, white and yellow blazes. Read story here.(Peter Marteka, pmarteka@courant.com)
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The 267-acre Haley Farm State Park in Groton dates to 1648 when Connecticut’s first governor, John Winthrop Jr., owned a portion of the fields that extend to Palmer’s Cove with views to Long Island Sound and Fishers Island Sound. Although its big sister park to the west, the 800-acre Bluff Point State Park, may be more popular, this little recreational jewel offers a leisurely bike path, 3 miles of some of the most incredible stone in the state, and trails that snake through old pastures. Read story here.(Bettina Hansen/ Courant file photo)
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The trail blazers at Connecticut Forest and Park Association must have had a smile on their faces as they were laying out the paths along this 4-mile blue-blazed trail. And you will find yourself saying, “Are you kidding me?” throughout the journey, but in a good way as your hike in the woods becomes an adventure. Read story here.(Peter Marteka, pmarteka@courant.com)
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From the moment you enter the New Hartford preserve, the only sounds you hear are birds calling in the deep forest and your own breathing and footfalls. Visitors travel through hemlock groves that turn day into dusk. Huge white pines and swaths of ferns border a carriage road created by Irish stonemasons at the turn of the 20th century. An overlook, simply known as the “bare spot,” gives visitors a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains and hills and the center of New Hartford on the banks of the West Branch of the Farmington River. There are three different trails that run through the heart of the preserve. Read story here.(Peter Marteka, pmarteka@courant.com)
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Bluff Point State Park in Groton is a shockingly beautiful piece of Connecticut shoreline, a place that puts a little of Cape Cod in Connecticut. This is a place to fish, clam, hike, ride a horse, bike, canoe, kayak, walk, run, swim, float, wade, watch the sunrise and sunset, bird watch, propose marriage, take photographs, walk a dog, have a picnic, search for seashells and sea glass, read a book, explore the tidal areas around the granite breakwater, well, you get the picture. Read story here.(Peter Marteka, pmarteka@courant.com)
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The Wallace Stevens Walk follows the route that Pulitzer-Prize winning American poet Wallace Stevens took every day from his home at 118 Westerly Terrace in Hartford’s west end to his office at the Hartford Accident and Indemnity Co. building. It is perfect for a half-day outing of 2.4 miles, or 4.8 miles round trip, mostly down Asylum Avenue, with Hartford landmarks all along the route. Thirteen granite markers were placed along the route Stevens walked, each with a stanza from one of his most famous poems, “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.” Read story here.(Cloe Poisson, cpoisson@courant.com)
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The 103-acre Allanach-Wolf Woodlands in Windham is a stunningly beautiful property on the banks of Lake Marie. A driveway serves as the main path through the southern portion of the property as it snakes through a grove of huge white pines. For those who don’t like manmade paths, there is a field to pass through. A trail then snakes along the banks of Lake Marie before leading to a small peninsula jutting into the picturesque pond. The views are tremendous here, not only for the hobbyist with a camera, but also for the professional photographer or landscape artist. Read story here.(Peter Marteka, pmarteka@courant.com)
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The Appalachian Trail extends 2,184 miles from Georgia to Maine and includes more than 50 miles in Connecticut. The trail enters Connecticut in Sherman and trends north mostly in the hills above the Housatonic River to the Massachusetts border at Salisbury, a total of 52.3 miles. Hikers on the section of the Appalachian Trail between Falls Village and Salisbury pass directly by an unusual rock outcrop aptly called Giant’s Thumb. Find hiking options here.(Steve Grant / Special To The Courant)
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The 1,200-acre preserve to the west of historic Guilford center has 39 miles of trails. And that’s not even the time-consuming part. Once you enter this magical natural world jammed with all sorts of caves, rock formations, marshes, a lost tidal lake and clear-running streams, you are going to want to explore every nook and cranny of the place that destroys the myth of Connecticut having one of the most developed shorelines. Read story here.(Peter Marteka, pmarteka@courant.com)
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The Windsor River Trail is more than 140 acres that includes a popular boat launch in the shadow of the Captain John Bissell Memorial Bridge. Although the trail only winds through the floodplain forest along the river for a mile south to the Hartford line, there are plans to link it with the city’s Riverside Park. Read story here.(Cloe Poisson / Hartford Courant)
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The infinity pines are one of the highlights of Highlawn Forest, an oasis of woods in Middletown. Read story here.(Peter Marteka, pmarteka@courant.com)
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The Pleasant Valley Preserve in the quiet wilds of North Lyme is four miles of trails that take visitors from the banks of the Eightmile River to the top of a granite ridge with views south and east across the high ridges of the Nehantic State Forest. Read story here.(Patrick Raycraft / praycraft@courant.com)
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Seymour State Park is the little-known southern neighbor of Hurd State Park. The 334-acre parcel includes numerous abandoned foundations buried in the New England forest, as well as giant rock outcroppings topped by evergreens just begging to be explored. In addition to its tremendous views of the Connecticut River and abandoned quarries, the grasslands and floodplain soils have remained untouched since Colonial times. Read story here.(Michael McAndrews, mmcandrews@courant.com)
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Mendell’s Folly in Bethany is no wasteland. The 125-acre Bethany Land Trust property on the border of Bethany and Beacon Falls is the group’s largest preserve, and one of its oldest. Read story here.(Patrick Raycraft / praycraft@courant.com)
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The Ponsett Ridge trail features several remains of stone foundations and a white-blazed winding trail. Much of Bamforth is meadow, with a milelong loop trail traversing the outside rim of the field and following old stone walls along the forested edge. Both are in Haddam. Read story here.(Patrick Raycraft / praycraft@courant.com)
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Traveling along Cheshire’s Prospect Ridge is like being on a roller coaster. The trail starts deep in a ravine and you can almost hear the clicketyclack of the coaster being jolted up before the first plunge as you struggle up a steep hill and into a cedar forest. After winding your way past scrub oak and blueberry bushes along the top of the hill with stunning views all around you, prepare to leave that vista behind as you plunge into another deep ravine and forest. And be prepared for a long ride, because the 24-mile Connecticut Forest and Park Association’s Quinnipiac Blue-Blazed Trail undulates like this all along the ridge for nearly 3 miles before visitors can catch their breath at Roaring Brook Falls, the state’s highest waterfall plunge. Read story here.(Michael McAndrews, mmcandrews@courant.com)
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The view of the Connecticut River from the top of 75-acre Hubbard Brook Preserve in Middletown as it snakes past the hills of East Hampton, East Haddam and Haddam. Read story here.(Peter Marteka, pmarteka@courant.com)
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The Hopyard is an 860-acre segment of Eight Mile River valley just enough removed from the bustle of everyday life to serve nicely as a soothing setting for a picnic. A walk to Chapman Falls in the north end of the park will help whet the appetite. Here, the Eight Mile cascades over a 60-foot drop through a bedrock of schist, a kind of layered metamorphic rock. Read story here.(Rick Hartford, rhartford@courant.com)
