The Farmington Canal Heritage Trail extends from New Haven to the Massachusetts border (84 miles). It follows the path of the former Farmington Canal and the New Haven & Northampton Railroad. It’s broken up into two main pieces- the Southern (New Haven to Southington) and the Northern (to MA). Today’s ride was the Southern half – map at the bottom.
While the trail is easy to ride blindly along the path, I suggest pausing at the canal at points recognizing the history of the barges pulled along and the “canal locks” painstakingly created along the way to navigate the terrain. There were also several areas with oodles of turtles which was fun to watch sun and swim in their natural environment. Definitely pause!!
As per Native American shamans, the red tailed hawk symbol with its sharp, eagle-like whistle indicates ‘that you should clear your mind. ‘
That is a long hard task for me. To be honest even when riding a beautiful trail with scenic views my mind tends to wander to solving a problem. I ride with a helmet in which I can play music and allow myself the escape taking in beautiful words, sounds and sights and be present with the surroundings.
I paused once to learn about the canal locks and dedicated a blog to my visit to Lock 12 and it’s history which is along this trail. I share it below.
For this ride I parked at a public trail lot near Mikro Pub in Hamden on Depot Road.
https://btographytravels.com/2020/12/04/ct-new-haven-county-cheshire-lock-12-historical-park/
Pivot and Pause in New England 
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