Metacomet Trail

Metacomet Trail
Blue-blazes mark the Metacomet Trail
Length	51 mi (82 km)
Location	Hartford County / New Haven County, Connecticut, USA
Designation	Part of a National Scenic Trail
Use	hiking, snowshoeing, other
Elevation
Highest point	West Peak, 1,024 ft (312 m)
Lowest point	Farmington River, 150 ft (46 m)
Hiking details
Trail difficulty	easy, with difficult sections
Season	easiest spring to fall
Hazards	deer ticks, poison ivy, copperheads (in places)

The Metacomet Trail is a 62.7-mile (100.9 km) Blue-Blazed hiking trail that traverses the Metacomet Ridge of central Connecticut and is a part of the newly designated 'New England National Scenic Trail'. Despite being easily accessible and close to large population centers, the trail is considered remarkably rugged and scenic. The route includes many areas of unique ecologic, historic, and geologic interest. Notable features include waterfalls, dramatic cliff faces, woodlands, swamps, lakes, river flood plain, farmland, significant historic sites, and the summits of Talcott Mountain and the Hanging Hills. The Metacomet Trail is maintained largely through the efforts of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association.

On March 30, 2009 President Barack Obama signed the 'Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009' establishing the New England National Scenic Trail (and two other national scenic trails).

The combination of the Metacomet, Monadnock and Mattabesett trails is also often referred to as the '3-M', 'MMM' or Metacomet-Monadnock-Mattabesett trail. The New England National Scenic Trail includes all or almost all of the 'MMM' trails as well as the new extension trail from the southernmost point on the Mattabesett Trail through Guilford, Connecticut to the northern shore of Long Island Sound.

The Metacomet Trail extends from the Connecticut/ Massachusetts border south through Hartford and northern New Haven counties in Connecticut. The southern terminus of the trail is located just east of the Hanging Hills on U.S. Route 5, 4 miles (6 km) north of the city of Meriden, in the town of Berlin, Connecticut; the northern terminus is located in the hamlet of Rising Corner, part of Suffield, Connecticut, 7 miles (11 km) southwest of Springfield, Massachusetts. The 110-mile (180 km) Metacomet-Monadnock Trail in Massachusetts and the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway in New Hampshire continue the footway north from the Metacomet Trail another 160 miles (260 km) to central New Hampshire. The 50-mile (80 km) Mattabesett Trail picks up where the Metacomet Trail leaves off in Berlin and continues south to Totoket Mountain then northeast to the Connecticut River in Middletown.