1
Salmon River State Forest
Managed by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
2,249 acres30.4 mi of trail
Salmon River TrailPinesNorth Loop (SRT)Twin PeaksRiver
Dog rules not recorded
Outdoors · Colchester
Colchester, CT parks, trails & bike paths
About 19% of Colchester is conserved land, roughly 6,147 acres. There are about 68 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Salmon River State Forest (30.4 mi), Deep River Reservoir Watershed (7.4 mi), and Babcock Pond State WMA (3.7 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Colchester, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Colchester outdoors
Conserved land
19%
6,147 of 31,647 acres
Trails
68 mi
1.4 mi per sq mi · 48 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
19
393 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
5.7 mi
0.0 mi lanes · 5.7 mi off-road paths
Conserved land is a share of the whole town area. Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number or a place below to zoom in© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Parks & preserves with trails
Ranked by mapped trail miles. Directions go to the nearest marked trailhead or public parking.
2
Deep River Reservoir Watershed
Managed by City of Norwich
1,184 acres7.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
3
Babcock Pond State Wildlife Management Area
Managed by State of Connecticut
871 acres3.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
4
Day Pond State Park
Managed by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
183 acres2.7 mi of trail
YellowNorth Loop (SRT)South Loop (SRT)
Dog rules not recorded
5
Bulkeley Hill Preserve
Managed by Colchester Land Trust
127 acres2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
6
Stablitz Preserve
Managed by Town of Colchester
72 acres1.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
7
Colchester Recreation Complex
Managed by Town of Colchester
32 acres1.1 mi of trail
RecPlex Walking Path
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
8
Airline State Park Trail (Southern Section)
Managed by State of Connecticut
56 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
All 19 parks & preserves
Showing 1–10 of 19 parks & preserves
Salmon River State Forest2,249 acres · 30.4 mi of trail · Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Deep River Reservoir Watershed1,184 acres · 7.4 mi of trail · City of Norwich
Babcock Pond State Wildlife Management Area871 acres · 3.7 mi of trail · State of Connecticut
Day Pond State Park183 acres · 2.7 mi of trail · Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Bulkeley Hill Preserve127 acres · 2 mi of trail · Colchester Land Trust
Stablitz Preserve72 acres · 1.9 mi of trail · Town of Colchester
Colchester Recreation Complex32 acres · 1.1 mi of trail · Town of Colchester
Airline State Park Trail (Southern Section)56 acres · 0.4 mi of trail · State of Connecticut
New Britain Hunting and Fishing Club130 acres · 0.2 mi of trail · New Britain Hunting and Fishing Club
Ruby and Elizabeth Cohen Woodlands204 acres · Town of Colchester
Who protects the land
6,147 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 242 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. Public access isn't recorded for 99 of 103 parcels. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes0.0 mi
- Off-road bike paths5.7 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.0 mi
Courts & fields
- Soccer9
- Tennis7
- Softball6
- Tracks6
- Baseball4
- Volleyball1
- Basketball1
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Nearby
Colchester and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colchester | 19.4% | 68.2 mi | 19 |
| Hebron | 24.3% | 76.2 mi | 55 |
| Lebanon | 26.7% | 63.0 mi | 15 |
| East Hampton | 23.3% | 71.6 mi | 18 |
| East Haddam | 25.9% | 119.6 mi | 64 |
| Marlborough | 26.7% | 28.2 mi | 19 |
| Salem | 29.4% | 46.4 mi | 16 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Colchester's trails yet. Muddy, icy, a bridge out, where to park: a quick post helps the next person.
Sources: trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US). Measured against the Census town boundary.
How we measure
"Trails" are OpenStreetMap paths, bridleways, public tracks and unpaved footways, plus footways inside a park or preserve or on a named trail route. Sidewalks are left out. Areas are counted on a 30.3-meter grid, so overlapping parcels count once. "Conserved" includes conservation easements, which protect land from development but are usually private property. Trailheads are the nearest marked trailhead, public parking lot or information board within about 150 meters of a preserve. Dog rules come from OpenStreetMap when someone has tagged them; otherwise we show what's typical for the land manager, or say the rules aren't recorded.