235-Mile Trail In CT, MA Named As New US National Park: 'Lined With Natural Beauty'

The New England National Scenic Trail, which stretches 235 miles from the Connecticut shoreline on Long Island Sound to the border between Massachusetts and New Hampshire, is one of the country's three newest national parks, the National Park Service announced earlier in December. 

The trail received national park status along with the Ice Age National Scenic Trail in Wisconsin and the North Country National Scenic Trail, which will traverse parts of Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Wisconsin when completed, officials said. 

All three trails had previously been established by Congress and administered by the National Parks Service as part of the National Trails System, but are now recognized as units of the National Park System. 

"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, who added, "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.”    

According to National Parks Service officials, the New England Trail is "lined with natural beauty and history" such as traprock ridges, historic village centers, farmlands, unfragmented forests, streams, river valleys, and waterfalls.  

It begins in the New Haven County town of Guilford and passes through Middlesex and Hartford Counties to the Massachusetts border, where it then snakes through Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin Counties before ending in the Worcester County town of Royalston. 

The trail will not experience any immediate changes to its already-existing access points, signage, operating budgets, superintendents, staff, and volunteers. 

An interactive map of the trail can be viewed by clicking here. 

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