Chatfield Trail
The Chatfield Trail is a 4.6-mile[1] Blue-Blazed hiking trail located within the town of Killingworth, Connecticut.
| Chatfield Trail | |
|---|---|
 One of the Chatfield Trail rock caves (and formations) hikers squeeze through.] | |
| Length | 4.6 miles (7.4 km) [1] |
| Location | Middlesex County, Connecticut, USA |
| Designation | CFPA Blue-Blazed Trail |
| Trailheads | Start: Connecticut Route 80, Killingworth. End: Paper Mill Road, Killingworth. |
| Use | hiking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, fishing, geocaching, other |
| Elevation | |
| Highest point | 890 ft (270 m) |
| Lowest point | Hammonasset River along southern Paper Mill Road |
| Hiking details | |
| Trail difficulty | Moderate with some easy and hard sections |
| Sights | fat man's squeeze and other rock formations, Forster Pond, Deer Lake |
| Hazards | hunters, deer ticks, poison ivy |
The northern trailhead is directly across from Chatfield Hollow State Park on Route 80. There is a good parking area outside the park's entrance. The trailhead is well marked on the South side of Route 80 just across the street from the park's entrance. The one-way route is 4.6 miles[1] to the southern trailhead on River Road though there is also a 0.75-mile alternate trail that loops off the main trail.
There is also a second northern trailhead entrance that is located on the south side of Route 80, about 0.3 miles west of the park entrance where there is a rough pullover area for 4 or 5 cars. From this old trailhead you can take a short 0.1-mile Blue and White trail east to the Blue-Blaze trail.
The northern section of the trail is located within Cockaponset State Forest. The southern sections of the trail pass near Deer Lake Scout Reservation and through privately owned property ending at River Road, just west of the intersection of Papermill Road and River Road.[2] River Road has a small pullover for 1 or 2 cars that can be used to access the southern trailhead.
References
- Colson, Ann T. (2006). Connecticut Walk Book West (19th edition). Connecticut Forest and Park Association. ISBN 0-9619052-6-3.
- "Chatfield Hollow State Park Map". Connecticut Explorers Guide. Retrieved May 6, 2014.
Further reading
Books – Connecticut hiking []
- Colson, Ann T. (2005). Connecticut Walk Book East (19 ed.). Rockfall, Connecticut: Connecticut Forest and Park Association. pp. 1–261. ISBN 0961905255.
- Colson, Ann T. (2006). Connecticut Walk Book West (19 ed.). Rockfall, Connecticut: Connecticut Forest and Park Association. pp. 1–353. ISBN 0961905263.
- Emblidge, David (1998). Hikes in southern New England: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont (1 ed.). Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books. pp. 1–304. ISBN 0-8117-2669-X.
- Keyarts, Eugene (2002). Pietrzyk, Cindi Dale (ed.). Short Nature Walks: Connecticut Guide Book (7 ed.). Guilford, Connecticut: Falcon Publishing. pp. 1–192. ISBN 0-7627-2310-6.
- Laubach, Rene; Smith, Charles W. G. (2007). AMC's Best Day Hikes in Connecticut (1 ed.). Guilford, Connecticut: Appalachian Mountain Club Books. pp. 1–320. ISBN 1-934028-10-X.
- Ostertag, Rhonda; Ostertag, George (2002). Hiking Southern New England (2 ed.). Guilford, Connecticut: Falcon Publishing. pp. 1–336. ISBN 0-7627-2246-0.
Books – Connecticut history and geography []
- De Forest, John (1853). History of the Indians of Connecticut from the earliest known period to 1850. Hartford, Connecticut: Wm. Jas. Hamersley. pp. 1–509.
- Hayward, John (1857). New England Gazetteer: Containing Descriptions of the States, Counties, Cities and Towns of New England (2 ed.). Boston, Massachusetts: Otis Clapp. pp. 1–704.
- Trumbull, Benjamin (1797). A Complete History of Connecticut - Civil and Ecclesiastical. Volume I (1818 printing ed.). New Haven, Connecticut: Maltby, Goldsmith & Co. and Samuel Wadsworth. pp. 1–1166.
- Trumbull, Benjamin (1797). A Complete History of Connecticut - Civil and Ecclesiastical. Volume II (1818 printing ed.). New Haven, Connecticut: Maltby, Goldsmith & Co. and Samuel Wadsworth. pp. 1–1166.
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