1
Meshomasic State Forest
Managed by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
3,570 acres35.2 mi of trail
Shenipsit TrailPine Woods Path
Dog rules not recorded
Outdoors · Portland
Portland, CT parks, trails & bike paths
About 32% of Portland is conserved land, roughly 5,122 acres. There are about 63 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Meshomasic State Forest (35.2 mi), Portland Reservoir (3.1 mi), and Rattlesnake Brook Preserve (2.7 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Portland, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Portland outdoors
Conserved land
32%
5,122 of 15,814 acres
Trails
63 mi
2.6 mi per sq mi · 39 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
40
543 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
2.7 mi
0.0 mi lanes · 2.7 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
Portland Reservoir
Managed by Town of Portland
256 acres3.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
3
Rattlesnake Brook Preserve
Managed by Middlesex Land Trust
158 acres2.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
4
Portland Recreational Complex
Managed by Town of Portland
25 acres1.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
5
Portland Riverfront Park
Managed by Town of Portland
44 acres1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Website
6
Wangunk Meadows Wildlife Management Area
Managed by State of Connecticut
636 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
7
YMCA Camp Ingersoll
Nature preserve
80 acres0.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Website
8
Oak Ledges Preserve
Managed by Middlesex Land Trust
8 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
All 40 parks & preserves
- Roy Huse Collins Preserve12 ac · 0.5 mi trail · Directions
- Bransfield Park23 ac · 0.3 mi trail · Directions
- Helen Carlson Wildlife Sanctuary18 ac · 0.3 mi trail · Directions
- Brownstone Exploration and Discovery Park35 ac · 0.2 mi trail · Directions
- Portland Air Line Trail Spur26 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Portland Farmers Fish and Game Club134 ac
- Palmer Taylor Preserve95 ac
- Shepherd's Nine83 ac · Directions
- Brownstone Park56 ac
- Abe Tempkin Preserve35 ac
- Cedar Meadow Preserve31 ac
- Stuart Brook Preserve23 ac
- Pecausett Johnson Kalinowsky Preserve18 ac
- Town Open Space17 ac
- Carlson Preserve15 ac
- Bowers Preserve12 ac
- Taylor–Edgewood Open Space10 ac
- Oakwood Soccer Park9 ac
- Middlesex Land Trust7 ac
- Okumsett Preserve6 ac · Directions
- Agogliati Field6 ac · Directions
- Bill Nolan Field6 ac
- Town Open Space (Old Stage Road)4 ac
- Culver Lane Open Space4 ac
- Pecausett Harper Preserve3 ac
- Tomasso Ballfield3 ac
- General John Hoar Preserve3 ac
- Bartlett Hill Preserve2 ac
- Bell Aire Terrace Open Space2 ac
- Community Center1 ac · Directions
- Wildwood Road Open Space1 ac
- Bartlett Street Open Space1 ac
Who protects the land
5,122 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 173 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. Public access isn't recorded for 139 of 150 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 paths2.7 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.0 mi
Courts & fields
- Soccer12
- Baseball8
- Tennis6
- Basketball3
- Pickleball2
- Multi-sport2
- Volleyball1
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Next door
Portland and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portland | 32.4% | 63.2 mi | 40 |
| Cromwell | 15.8% | 27.2 mi | 11 |
| East Hampton | 23.3% | 71.6 mi | 18 |
| Middletown | 12.8% | 81.3 mi | 31 |
| Glastonbury | 28.6% | 174.3 mi | 185 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Portland'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 20-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.