New England Scenic Trail becomes national park
The New England Scenic Trail, which cuts straight through Connecticut, has been granted national park status by the U.S. National Park Service. The trail runs north about 235 miles from the Guilford Point area on Long Island Sound over hills, ridges and waterfalls though Massachusetts to the border of New Hampshire.
“For us, it’s super exciting,” said Clare Cain, the interim executive director and trails director for the Connecticut Forest and Park Association, one of the organizations that maintains the trail. “This puts our trail on par with the other national scenic trails and other national parks.”
Winding over scenic trap rock ridges, past village centers, farmlands, forests and waterfalls the trail encompasses the historic Metacomet-Monadnock-Mattabasset trail system.
In Massachusetts, at Skinner State Park, it passes the iconic mountain top summit house. In Connecticut, it crosses Pistapaug Mountain in Wallingford at the reservoir.
A spur of the trail breaks off at the Broomstick Ledges near Rockland, winds over Mount Pisgah, then heads past Millers Pond State Park before cresting the bluffs near Maromas on the Connecticut river.
The designation was long overdue said Cain. Back in 2009, the trail system was given the designation of a “national scenic trail” without the accompanying national park designation. This put the whole trail system in something of a funding and status limbo, Cain said.
“It was this weird administrative oversight they made when designating the trail,” said Cain. “We’ve been maintaining the trail since the beginning, but this piece has been missing.”
The New England Scenic Trail became a national park with two other national scenic trails, the North Country Trail and the Ice Age Trail. Now six trails in the country have national park status. The most famous of these is the Appalachian Trail.
“The new status for the Ice Age, New England, and North Country national scenic trails will increase public awareness and use of these amazing pathways,” said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams in a press release. “Their combined 5,500-plus miles travel through parts of 10 states and hundreds of communities, from large cities to rural towns, providing countless close-to-home opportunities for people to easily access green space and enjoy the benefits of outdoor recreation.”
The New England Scenic Trail winds past many indigenous, colonial and post-colonial historical sites including King Phillip’s Cave where the Pequot Sachem Metacomet sheltered during King Phillip’s War, a mammoth archaeological dig, and Castle Craig monument all in Connecticut.
“Last year we started an indigenous site survey in Connecticut,” said Cain, explaining that a Tribal Historic Preservation archaeologist had finished the Connecticut side. “We’ve just started to continue that work in Massachusetts.”
The trail also serves as a haven and corridor for wildlife in New England. Hundreds of species have been documented on the trail by the iNaturalist citizen science community including raccoons, coyotes, elusive great horned owls and American eels in the streams. A great variety of wildflowers, trees and mushrooms make the trail their home. Kingfishers, hummingbirds and woodpeckers flit through the trees.
While the trail officially ends near the state border, it connects with other trails that lead on to Mount Monadnock, which Cain explained was the “unofficial” end of the trail. She hopes that the news will bring more excitement and interest for the trail.
“A lot of people don’t know, and it’s great that this news is going out,” said Cain.