place

Lillinonah Trail

Blue-Blazed TrailsHiking trails in ConnecticutNewtown, ConnecticutProtected areas of Fairfield County, Connecticut
LillinonahTrail NorthernLakeFacingNorthWithBoat
LillinonahTrail NorthernLakeFacingNorthWithBoat

The Lillinonah Trail is a 5.9-mile (9.5 km) Blue-Blazed hiking trail "system" in the lower Housatonic River valley in Fairfield County and, today, is entirely in Newtown. Most of the trail is in the upper block of Paugussett State Forest. The mainline (official "Blue-Blazed") trail circles the Paugussett State Forest "upper block". The west, north and east portions of the trail are shared with the northern section of Al's Trail—a ten-mile trail in Newtown. The Lillinonah Trail today is composed of four sides in a square "loop". Notable features include the Hanover Road parking lot and boat launch, semi-obscured (by trees) scenic views of Pond Brook inlet and Lake Lillinonah (Housatonic River), a climb to a high point of 480-foot (150 m), a very large oak tree, several stone fences and foundations and a demonstration of a maple sugaring technique known as "sugarbush" near the Echo Valley Road parking lot. The Lillinonah Trail is maintained largely through the efforts of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association and the Newtown Forest Association. The Lillinonah Trail appears to have been a larger trail in the 1940s based on the map in the 1940 CFPA Connecticut Walk Book.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Lillinonah Trail (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 41.46 ° E -73.31 °
placeShow on map

Address

Paugussett State Forest



Connecticut, United States
mapOpen on Google Maps

Website
ct.gov

linkVisit website

LillinonahTrail NorthernLakeFacingNorthWithBoat
LillinonahTrail NorthernLakeFacingNorthWithBoat
Share experience

Nearby Places

Shepaug Dam
Shepaug Dam

Shepaug Dam (National ID # CT00232) is a dam located between Newtown in Fairfield County and Southbury in New Haven County, Connecticut. The concrete dam was constructed in 1955 by the Connecticut Light and Power Company, with a height of 140 feet, and a length at its crest of 1412 feet. It impounds the Housatonic River and the Shepaug River for hydroelectric power. The dam is owned and operated by the power company Northeast Utilities. The reservoir it creates, Lake Lillinonah, is the second-largest lake in the state, second only to Candlewood Lake. It has a water surface of 2.9 square miles, and a maximum capacity of 86,100 acre-feet. The riparian reservoir is the site of multiple state parks and recreation areas along its shorelines. The dam, capable of a peak power output of 42,600 kW, is a popular nesting and feeding ground for wintering eagles and hawks, including the bald eagle. Near the power station, the operator also maintains an eagle observation area first opened by the utility's predecessor, Northeast Utilities, in the mid-1980s. Access is free, and some telescopes are provided. Utility company employees and volunteers from the Connecticut Audubon Society and other groups are at the observation area to assist visitors. Advanced reservations are required. Eagles are attracted to the spot because the water churning through the dam's hydroelectric turbine keeps the surface from icing over, allowing the birds to fish. Red-tailed hawks, goshawks, great blue herons and other waterfowl are also attracted to the spot.FirstLight Power Resources has submitted a plan to the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control to build a new peak-power plant next to the existing hydroelectric facility.The dam is not to be confused with the 1965 earthen Upper Shepaug Reservoir Dam, owned and operated by the city of Waterbury, Connecticut in Litchfield County.

New York Belting and Packing Co.
New York Belting and Packing Co.

The New York Belting and Packing Co. complex, also known locally for its main 20th-century occupant, the Fabric Fire Hose Company, is a historic industrial complex at 45–71, 79-89 Glen Road in Newtown, Connecticut. Its centerpiece is a four-story brick mill building with an Italianate tower, built in 1856. The property also includes a dam impounding the adjacent Pootatuck River, a mill pond, and a hydroelectric power generation facility. The site's industrial history begins about 1850, when the dam was built. The Goodyear Rubber Packing Company, headed by Josiah Tomlinson, brother-in-law of Charles Goodyear, started operations on the site at that time, but the company went bankrupt in 1856. The New York Belting and Packing Company bought the premises in that year. One of the buildings burned down that year, and the company built the present factory building on that site, as well as another further upstream (no longer extant), where it operated until 1917. The property was then acquired by a subsidiary of the United States Rubber Company (later known as Uniroyal), which leased the premises to the Fabric Fire Hose Company until 1977. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.The complex was renovated into an office building in 1980 named Rocky Glen Mill. A notable occupant in the late 1980s was Stepstone, which created the Objective-C programming language. The building was renovated again in 2000.