Tunxis Trail

Tunxis Trail
Cussgutter Brook in Winter - Tunxis Compounce Cascade Side Trail
Length	79 mi (127 km)
Location	Hartford / New Haven counties, Connecticut, USA
Designation	CFPA Blue-Blazed Tunxis Trail System
Use	hiking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, other
Elevation
Highest point	Pine Mountain, 1,378 ft (420 m)
Lowest point	Farmington River, 150 ft (46 m)
Hiking details
Trail difficulty	easy, with difficult sections
Season	easiest spring to fall
Hazards	hunters, deer ticks, poison ivy

The Tunxis Trail is a 79-mile (127 km) Blue-Blazed hiking trail "system" that traverses the western ridge of the central Connecticut valley. The mainline (official "Blue" and "non-dot") trail is not completely contiguous, notably there are two gaps of several miles (between the Southington and Burlington sections and between the Burlington section and the Nepaug section).

The Tunxis Trail is composed of eighteen (18) trails of which one is the primarily North-to-South mainline trail plus a number of shorter side trails. Despite being easily accessible and close to large population centers, the trail is considered remarkably rugged and scenic.

Notable features include the Lake Compounce Amusement Park (and its "non-ski lift"), "Tory Den", the "Mile of Ledges", colonial era cemeteries, several caves (including the "Indian Council Caves"), waterfalls, dramatic cliff faces, woodlands, swamps, lakes, river flood plains, farmland, significant historic sites, and the summits of Pine Mountain and Southington Mountain. The Tunxis Trail, maintained largely through the efforts of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association.

The Tunxis Trail system, at approximately 79 miles in length, is the longest of the Blue-Blazed Trails maintained by the Connecticut Forest and Park Association.

Because the trail runs parallel to the Metacomet Trail there are several spectacular views from the Tunxis Trail of Metacomet Ridge features to the east.

The Tunxis Trail extends from the Connecticut / Massachusetts border north to south crossing successively the municipalities of Hartland in Hartford County, Barkhamsted and New Hartford in Litchfield County, Canton and Burlington in Hartford County, Harwinton and Plymouth in Litchfield County, ending in Bristol and Southington in Hartford County with two southern side trails touching the northern New Haven County town of Wolcott.