1
Rockland Preserve
Nature preserve
665 acres30.7 mi of trail
EraticaRockland LoopThunderdomeNew England TrailMag-5
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
Outdoors · Madison
Madison, CT parks, trails & bike paths
About 37% of Madison is conserved land, roughly 8,558 acres. There are about 101 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Rockland Preserve (30.7 mi), Cockaponset State Forest (8.5 mi), and Hammonasset Beach State Park (5.1 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Madison, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Madison outdoors
Conserved land
37%
8,558 of 23,306 acres
Trails
101 mi
2.8 mi per sq mi · 81 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
57
486 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
1.7 mi
0.0 mi lanes · 1.3 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
Cockaponset State Forest
Managed by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
547 acres8.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
3
Hammonasset Beach State Park
Park
569 acres5.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
4
Neck River Uplands
Managed by Madison Land Conservation Trust
128 acres3.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
5
Ironwoods Preserve
Managed by Madison Land Conservation Trust
110 acres3.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
6
Lowry Woods
Nature preserve
82 acres1.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
7
Salt Meadow Park
Park
36 acres1.3 mi of trail
Griswold Coastal Forest Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
8
St. Francis Woods
Managed by Madison Land Conservation Trust
22 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
All 57 parks & preserves
- Twin Hollow21 ac · 0.3 mi trail
- Donnelly Memorial5 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Cedar Island153 ac
- Guilford Sportsman Association84 ac
- Madison Town Land59 ac · Directions
- Bauer Park28 ac · Directions
- Town Open Space (Durham Road)25 ac · Directions
- Fence Creek Meadow24 ac · Directions
- Kingswood18 ac
- Squire Glen15 ac · Directions
- Colt Manor15 ac
- Mancheski Meadow14 ac
- Oakwood14 ac
- Rettich Preserve11 ac · Directions
- Milestone9 ac
- Village Pond9 ac
- Tuxis Pond-A8 ac · Directions
- Shadow Valley8 ac
- Tuxis-Gull Rock8 ac · Directions
- Town Open Space (Horse Pond Road)7 ac
- Hercules Hill7 ac · Directions
- Lake Hammonasset Public Watershed Land6 ac
- Gesner Hill6 ac
- Timberlands5 ac · Directions
- Meadow's Edge5 ac · Directions
- Mlct (Canaday Lane)5 ac · Directions
- Town Open Space (Scotland Avenue)5 ac
- Fairfield Acres5 ac
- Antler Ridge4 ac
- Madison Springs4 ac
- Borg Meadow4 ac · Directions
- Whitman Woods4 ac · Directions
- Forest Corners4 ac
- Madison Green Historic District3 ac · Directions
- Cornish Woods3 ac
- Horner3 ac
- Stepping Stone3 ac
- East River Woodland2 ac
- Deepwood2 ac
- Maple Ridge2 ac · Directions
- Town Open Space (Wildcat Springs Drive)2 ac
- Hammonasset Fishing Association Lands1 ac
- Town Open Space (Fort Path Road)1 ac
- Carlson Meadow1 ac
- Town Open Space (Wildcat Road)1 ac
- Loucks Meadow1 ac
- Town of Madison Canoe/Kayak Launch1 ac
- Town Dock1 ac
- Town Land1 ac
Who protects the land
8,558 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 949 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. Public access isn't recorded for 190 of 212 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 paths1.3 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.5 mi
Courts & fields
- Tennis27
- Soccer9
- Baseball7
- Basketball6
- Football1
- Multi-sport1
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Next door
Madison and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madison | 36.7% | 101.4 mi | 57 |
| Killingworth | 25.9% | 73.1 mi | 13 |
| Guilford | 24.9% | 154.7 mi | 61 |
| Clinton | 10.7% | 25.8 mi | 33 |
| Durham | 23.5% | 49.0 mi | 19 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Madison'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 31.7-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.