A WALK ALONG THE TROLLEY TRAIL
Hiking an abandoned trolley line near Quassy Amusement Park in Woodbury
In this week’s Nature column, Peter Marteka visits the Trolley Bed Preserve in Woodbury.
The Bottom Line: An out-and-back trek along the abandoned right-of-way of the Woodbury and Waterbury Street Railway, a trolley that once ran from the city to the country and Quassy Amusement Park. The trolley bed trail passes Woodbury Reservoir through deep woods along the scenic gorges of South Brook.
Difficulty Level: Easy.
Total Mileage: The old trolley bed runs a total of 3.7 miles from the trail head out and back.
Directions: I-84 to Exit 17 and follow the signs for “amusement park” along Route 64 west. Take a left on Trolley Bed Road. The trailhead and parking area are at the end of the road.
Pet-friendly? Leash and clean up after
your pets.
It was the spring of 1908 and work was wrapping up on a trolley line that would bring the city out to the country and viceversa as an amusement park opened on the banks of Lake Quassapaug.
The work of tearing up Main Street in this town has begun preparatory in laying of trolley rails,” read an article in The Hartford Courant. “This will give Woodbury communication with the outside world. The rails for the Waterbury-Woodbury line are laid most of the way over the Middlebury hills into Waterbury and prospects are good for the running of the cars.”
Those cars ran from 1908 until the 1930s. The advent of the mass produced automobile ended its service, and the tracks were abandoned. More than a century later, visitors can still board the railway as Woodbury has preserved the right-of-way from Old Sherman Hill Road west to Middle Quarter Road and Route 6.
Visitors can easily tell the trail is part of an old trolley line as it runs straight from the parking area into the woods to one of three crossings over South Brook. The trail eventually winds down to the banks of the very picturesque Woodbury Reservoir — a large pond surrounded by forest, its surface populated by mallard ducks and Canada geese, feeding and frolicking in the water and on the small islands. A side trail at the reservoir’s southern end provides a beautiful view.
After passing the reservoir, the trail turns to the west and travels along the deep ravines and chasms of South Brook. The trail makes two more crossings over the brook through beautifully constructed stone bridges with concrete on top. It’s fascinating to see large trees and hemlocks growing on top of the concrete, the maintenance of them long abandoned.
As the trail enters the deeper hemlock and white pine forest, the trolley bed becomes wet, so visitors should wear good foot gear. There are rustic side trails between the brook and path visitors can use to avoid most of the wet areas. The trail curves a bit here, so just keep following the banks of the brook past a newly installed water tower.
The trail passes the deep ravines that make a late autumn day feel even colder. Courant articles about the trolley ride called it “one of the prettiest in the state,” noting the “road was very cool and refreshing in the summer.” It’s easy to see why as you pass through the deep forest whose evergreens blocks out the midday sun and fern-covered ground of the ravine.
The trail eventually ends near Route 6, and visitors turn around and head back to the trailhead as if they were riding on a trolley to the amusement park. Quassy
Amusement Park and the railway line were built at the same time — one of more than 1,000 trolley parks nationwide. There are fewer than a dozen remaining today. Although the amusement park still operates, trolleys have long stopped running. But the ghostly remnants still remain on a path through the forests and ravines of Woodbury.
When the first trolley arrived, it was “greeted with loud cheering, the blowing of whistles and the ringing of church bells,” according to a September 1908 Courant article. It’s kind of how I feel when I discover another great place to hike in Connecticut like Trolley Bed Preserve.