Shout Out

Shout-Out to Trail Census Volunteer Barbara!

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It’s a treat for us to shout out Trail Census star volunteer Barbara Amodio! Barbara is an East Coast Greenway Alliance CT Ambassador and a founding member of Bike Walk Bolton, a volunteer organization advocating the expansion of safe, practical and accessible trails in their community. Starting in 2012, Barbara bicycled sections of the East Coast Greenway each year until she completed the entire corridor from Maine to Florida. The experience drew her closer to trails at home and the organizations working to increasing their safety and accessibility for users.
     As a leader in these organizations as well as the Hop River Trail Alliance, she applied for a grant opportunity to fund the installment of trail use counters on the Hop River Trail through our CT Trail Census program. Barbara and fellow trail stewards have been involved since our program’s beginning, gathering trail use data that aids in advocating for expansion of trails and safety features by showing where people use trails, even where it may not be obvious! For example, when a new connection was constructed between the Hop River State Park Trail and the Charter Oak Greenway in Manchester, trail use data demonstrated an increase in trail activity. She is also looking forward to measuring differences in trail use before and after installation of daytime lighting in the Hop River Trail Tunnel – coming soon!
     Of her years of trail work and advocacy, Barbara is particularly proud of the Hop River Trail Alliance’s work to obtain funding for signage along the entire Hop River Trail, and continually helping trail corridors connect across CT. She is also proud that, thanks to the efforts of Bike Walk Bolton using Connecticut Trail Census data, the entire Hop River Trail is now ADA accessible. We, too, are proud to partner with Barbara, the East Coast Greenway Alliance, Bike Walk Bolton, and the Hop River Trail Alliance!

Shout-Out to Fairfield Conservation Department!

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We would like to recognize Fairfield Conservation Department! This department was the first of its kind in the state, with open space areas that provide views of forest, lake, river, salt marsh, and more. I spoke with director Tim Bishop, who is interested in updating and modernizing Fairfield’s open space trail maps so that more people have access to accurate information about outdoor recreation opportunities available in town. This may even include helping Fairfield residents find new trails they never knew about! This is exactly what we love to help with at CT Trail Finder, and have worked with them to publish nine of their trails on https://www.cttrailfinder.com/.

Grace Richardson Open Space Area, Fairfield, CT. Also pictured are Conservation Director Tim Bishop and the Town of Fairfield seal.

Fairfield continues to protect parcels to enhance connectivity between open space areas, providing trail users with more options and safer corridors. Another of Tim’s goals is to make maps for some larger trail networks available on Avenza. We are thrilled about our partnership with Tim and the Fairfield Conservation Department and about providing services that can help them meet their goals! 

Shout-Out to Westport Conservation Department!

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A warm shout-out goes to Westport Conservation and Parks and Recreation Departments!

Bench overlooking the river on a Westport town trail
View from Saugatuck River Trails

The CT Trail Finder team is proud to work with them to create a digital guide to the open space area trails managed by the town and partners (shout-out to Aspetuck Land Trust)! A sincere thank you to Colin Kelly, Conservation Department Director, who spoke with me about how Westport’s original illustrated open space maps and the CT Trail Finder online maps have complemented each other.

As one example, Colin gave credit to student interns who have been using the illustrated trail maps to guide them in collecting geospatial trail data using Avenza.
We are excited to help our Westport partners build a digital trail database to help trail users find outdoor recreation features, like shoreline access. We also enjoy seeing the creative approaches that Colin and partners have used to connect smaller trails, paths, and public recreation areas together to help people imagine new ways to explore Westport open space, such as the Saugatuck River Trails. Find a new Westport trail to enjoy this week!

Shout-Out to the Still River Greenway Committee!

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It’s our pleasure to highlight the managers of the Still River Greenway, a multi-use paved trail along the Still River in Brookfield, CT. Many thanks go to Jay Annis, Still River Greenway Committee Chair, longtime Brookfield resident, and outdoor recreation enthusiast, for speaking with me.

wide flat pathway on a sunny day with green vegetation around
Still River Greenway
Following a Brookfield resident survey in 2001 that revealed a desire for a walking/biking path, Jay was tapped to lead the committee that would bring such a path to life. After 15 years of work with the Parks and Recreation Department, the Still River Greenway Committee saw the greenway opened in 2016. Now, the collaboration continues with an extension of the greenway as part of the in-progress Norwalk River Valley Trail. From Jay himself, “our town project has changed into a much bigger project that benefits everyone”.
Still River Greenway is in the CT Trail Census program, with trail use count data going back to 2017, assisting advocates with garnering support. It was also published on CT Trail Finder in 2024, viewed as a way to promote trail use and support for trail projects, and to encourage enjoyment of local experiences when pairing trails with trailside services. We sincerely appreciate our partnership across the CT Trails Program! Explore the trail here!

Shout-Out to Quiet Corner NEMBA!

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Photo: CT Trail Finder; QCNEMBA

We’re pleased to feature an exciting new partnership! On CT Trail Finder, Quiet Corner New England Mountain Bike Association (QCNEMBA) helped publish Pomfret Forest, an extensive multi-use trail system directly off the Air Line State Park Trail in Pomfret, that they have designed with mountain bikers in mind. Many thanks to Christian Smutnick, QCNEMBA Vice President, for speaking with me about their recent work building, maintaining, and connecting folks to trails in the northeast corner of CT.

QCNEMBA shares our goal of increasing trail accessibility – such as with our interactive trail maps open for anyone to access from a web browser. They often map their own trails, which helped streamline CT Trail Finder map preparation. They are also interested in connections between trails and local businesses through tourism, tying in with our trailside services. QCNEMBA is active with unique programs, such as Wednesday Women’s rides (pictured here), and Gear Locker, in which used mountain bikes are donated, quality-assessed, and lent to new riders to help reduce initial cost barriers.

Pomfret Forest is a victory for QCNEMBA, and an awesome addition to CT Trail Finder – go check it out!

Shout-Out to Farmington Canal Heritage and River Trails!

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We want to shout out Farmington Canal Heritage Trail and Farmington River Trail managers and volunteers for all their work with CT Trail Finder! The time, care, and miles they have put in to keep trail info up-to-date, easy to access, and helpful has been invaluable to us and trail users alike. A special shout-out to volunteer Norm Berg, who collected coordinates and descriptive information for points of interest, infrastructure, accessibility, amenities, and parking lot conditions, while coordinating with us to get the best information onto CT Trail Finder so trail users know what to expect. Norm also talks with people on the trail, getting to know what they need and sharing that knowledge with us, and promotes CT Trail Finder via signage and word-of-mouth. We really appreciate working with Norm and all our volunteers!

A paved trail with a wooden bridge extends through a deciduous forest with green spring leaves. A person with a white and red shirt and a green helmet is bicycling on the trail.
Photo: Norm Berg; Farmington Canal Heritage Trail