City: Middle Haddam, CT

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (860) 346-2372

Description: This section of the Mattabesett Trail and its adjoining loops is located at Seven Falls, the state’s first roadside picnic area, with a series of little cascading falls in Bible Rock Brook. Just off exit 10 of Route 9, take Route 154 south for less than a mile, and you will see the small park on your left. The Mattabesett comes in from the west here, but you’ll head east through a small labyrinth of picnic trails (follow the blue blazes) and go as far as you like into this woodland paradise. You can make a 3-mile loop if you head back on the blue circle trail, or cross Freeman and Aircraft Roads, where three more loops (all with blue circles to lead you back) are waiting. You’ll find strange rock formations, old stagecoach roads, babbling brooks, and thickets of huckleberries along the way. In the middle of the fourth loop, Bear Hill rises up and makes for a nice end point to the hike, giving you about 8 miles if you follow the blue circles back to your car.