New England National Scenic Trail

New England National Scenic Trail
The summit of Mount Norwottuck in the Holyoke Range provides a panoramic view of the Pioneer Valley.
Length	Approx. 233 miles (375 km)
Location	Central Connecticut and western Massachusetts
Designation	National Scenic Trail
Trailheads	South: Guilford Harbor, CT North: MA-32, Royalston, MA
Use	Hiking
Elevation
Highest point	Mount Tom (Massachusetts), 1,202 ft (366 m)
Lowest point	Long Island Sound, Guilford, CT, 0 ft (0 m)
Hiking details
Trail difficulty	Moderate to strenuous
Season	Spring to Fall
Sights	Mount Tom Range, Connecticut River, Oxbow, Holyoke Range
Hazards	Severe weather Tick-borne diseases Mosquitos Yellowjackets Biting flies Poison ivy Venomous snakes

The New England National Scenic Trail (NET) is a National Scenic Trail in southern New England, which includes most of the three single trails Metacomet-Monadnock Trail, Mattabesett Trail and Metacomet Trail. After the Metacomet-Monadnock-Mattabesett trail system, the trail is sometimes called the Triple-M Trail. The 233-mile (375 km) route extends through 41 communities from Guilford, Connecticut at Long Island Sound over the Metacomet Ridge, through the highlands of the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts, to the New Hampshire state border. (The remainder of the M-M Trail to the summit of Mount Monadnock in southern New Hampshire is not included in the designation.) This includes a now (2013) complete connector trail (the Menunkatuck Trail) from the southernmost location of the Mattabesett Trail (in northern Guilford, Connecticut) to the sea (Long Island Sound) and a deviation of the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail in Massachusetts, to lead the trail through state-owned land instead of largely unprotected land.

In 2000, the United States Congress authorized the National Park Service to research the new trail composed of the Mattabesett Trail, Metacomet Trail, and Metacomet-Monadnock Trail in Connecticut and Massachusetts. This was backed by Public Law 107-338 (signed by President George W. Bush in December 2002). The argument, as testified before Congress, was that the preservation of the trail system as a recreational resource is only possible through its joint protection.