City: Hamden, CT

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (203) 562-6312

Address: 940 Whitney Ave.

Description: By the time this guidebook comes out, the New Haven section of this amazing canal trail will probably be finished, and it will stretch from the shore through Hamden into Cheshire. In the 1820s this canal was the dream of businessmen and towns along the 83-mile pathway, but in 1848 the dream was killed by the introduction of the railroad. Now turned into a multiuse footpath, it is a fantastic place to bike, walk, in-line skate, and cross-country ski in the winter, mostly on the towpath of the old canal (with some sections still in evidence). In the Hamden section, you can stop at the restored Lockkeeper’s House, where there is a small museum (and restroom facilities), and take the spur trail into Brooksvale Park, where in the summer you can check out their peacocks, rabbits, goats, and chickens, as well as a large network of rough mountain-biking trails. Farther up the line in Cheshire, stop at Lock 12 Historical Park, where you can see the working locks that allowed canal boats to float up to the next elevation.