DEEP offers new, online state park trail map

A new, high-tech way to plan your next adventure in Connecticut’s great outdoors is now available — the online CT Rail Trail Explorer.

The Connecticut Departments of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and Transportation (DOT) have launched CT Rail Trail Explorer to provide all the information people need to plan a few hours, or even a day on the state’s expansive network of rail trails. CT Rail Trail Explorer can be found at www. ct.gov/deep/ railtrail explorer

The new online feature was developed by DEEP’s State Parks Trails & Greenways Program in cooperation with DOT’s Transportation Alternatives Program to guide visitors to trails that provide a great way to easily explore some of CT’s unique landscapes on foot, bike or horse back. Users can interactively plan their visit by either clicking on a State Park Trail logo or from an interactive map.

Users can plan their trip by asking to see how many miles they want have to travel from a parking lot of choice to a destination, or measure distances between parking lots or other trail features of interest.

They can also find the parking area nearest to them and get directions. There is an option to print out a map once they have settled on a route. Other map functions include a user generated profile map of trail elevations along a selected route; photographs of sites along the trails and parking areas; links to associated State Park maps and websites for more details.

In addition to being a great resource for CT trail users, The CT Rail Trail Explorer is a pilot project for a central source of trail use planning information. The project was supported in part by funding provided by the Federal Highway Administration’s National Recreational Trails Program administered by the CT DEEP in partnership with the CT DOT’s Transportation Alternatives Program and designed by Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc.

There are four State Park Rail Trails in our state: the Air Line, Hop River, Moosup Valley, and Larkin.

In addition, many sections of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail (FCHT) are part of our State Park system. The Air Line and the Hop River State Park Rail Trails were re-connected this summer by a restored bridge over the Willimantic River in Windham. The Air Line and Hop River trails are also connected to sections of our Blue Blazed Hiking Trail System. All trails welcome nonmotorized multi use and have stone dust surfaces except for the FCHT which is paved.

The rail trails cover 88 miles and pass through the 23 towns of Andover, Bolton, Chaplin, Colchester, Columbia, Coventry, East Hampton, Hampton, Hebron Lebanon Manchester Middlebury, Naugatuck, Oxford, Plainfield, Pomfret, Putnam Southbury Sterling Thompson, Vernon, and Windham.

Contact the DEEP CT Recreational Trails & Greenways Program for more information 860424-3578.

Bethlehem Land Trust to hold benefit Oct. 1

BETHLEHEM >> For the second year in a row the Bethlehem Land Trust is throwing a party at the Bethlehem Fairgrounds – complete with a beer/wine/ spirits Tasting, bountiful hors d’oeuvres, silent and live auctions, and music by Switch Factory, native sons who play folk, bluegrass, blues, and rock music. The event takes place on Saturday, October 1, 4-7:30 p.m. Tickets are available online at www.bethlehem landtrustct.org and at the door on the day of the event. Auction items include restaurant gift certificates, Thimble Islands boat tour, theater tickets, local farm products, art, hand-crafted jewelry, ski trip to Whistler in British Columbia, Sonoma vineyard tour, driving school at a NASCAR track, signed Big Bang Theory script, Chloe leather handbag, vintage plane ride, hot air balloon pilot instruction, afternoon of fly-fishing, a hot air balloon flight for two complete with champagne upon landing and much more.

Chairman Kate Eren said, “There’s something for everyone in the auction, so grab your friends and get your tickets! Open bar, fabulous hors d’oeuvres, and music that will knock your socks off! The Land Trust is very grateful for your support – come and have a good time.”

Sponsors include: Eagle Electric, Little Town Mechanical Contractors, Connecticut Community Foundation, Classic Turf Company, Hickcox Funeral Home, Klemm Real Estate, March Farm, True Value of Bethlehem, and The Woodhall School. Currently the Bethlehem Land Trust holdings total 359 acres – 250 owned outright and 109 protected by permanent easements. The land trust, established in 1980, is a non-profit organization dedicated to the permanent conservation and stewardship of local farmland, fields, forests, and wetlands and to educating the public on the importance of conservation. For more information, visit the Trust’s website at www.bethlehemlandtrustct.org.