New England National Scenic Trail and its Older Brethren

It was a cold December day. Snow was still on the ground from a snowstorm a few days earlier, and I almost slipped on a dip in the trail. That wasn’t going to stop me, though, as only a few minutes later I saw what I have been working towards for over a year. It was the Massachusetts-New Hampshire state borderline, which marks the current terminus of the New England National Scenic Trail. All that was there to emphasize this monument was a wooden sign posted to a tree, but I celebrated my completion of the 215 mile long trail with a shot of whiskey and a few fistpumps. 

It is hard to top the excitement I got from that moment, but I was a bit delighted to learn that the New England National Scenic Trail was established as one of our newest national park sites just last week. The trail preserves the trap rock ridges of the New England landscape as it runs from Long Island Sound at the base of Connecticut (my home state) all the way to the mountainous Massachusetts-New Hampshire border. The park is now Connecticut’s third national park site and shares a lot in common with one of the other two: the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. I’ve spent a lot of time now at both of these parks, and I think it would be interesting to go over a comparison of the two.

Whereas the New England National Scenic Trail was just recently established as a national park site, the Appalachian National Scenic Trail became a park all the way back in 1968. It was established to provide a recreational opportunity and a break from city life for the eastern portion of the United States. The Appalachian Trail is much more remote than the New England Trail even though civilization isn’t ever that far away. However, on the New England Trail there are many portions of the trail where you are walking on a road or even in some cases in people’s front and backyards. It shouldn’t be surprising then to hear that the New England Trail is much more regulated than the Appalachian Trail. The New England Trail has many more owners involved (for instance state and private owners) so you have to play by their rules. In a lot of the Appalachian Trail you can be out after dark whereas the New England trail is a strictly sunrise to sunset area unless you find one of the rare campgrounds or shelters. I wonder if this will change in the future, though, with the National Park Service taking complete control of the park whereas it was just helping finance the park previously. The Appalachian Trail is much more mountainous. In any ten mile stretch of trail you could be gaining 3000+ feet in elevation whereas on the New England Trail you will never gain more than 2000 feet in a ten mile stretch. In terms of infrastructure, the Appalachian Trail has a few visitor centers (I’ve been to the Shenandoah National Park visitor centers, which have actual exhibits on the Appalachian Trail) and campsites or shelters are quite frequent on the trail. That is not the case at present with the New England Trail where Springfield Armory National Historic Site serves as the park's visitor center (but with little interpretation and just merchandise) and campsites and shelters are few and far between. Being places that are supposed to protect wilderness you would think that there are many opportunities to see wildlife at these parks. I’ve seen black bears, bald eagles, and deer throughout my trips on the Appalachian Trail. While I haven’t seen much wildlife during my time on the New England Trail, it does have similar wildlife opportunities as the Appalachian Trail.

You’ve probably heard me mention it before, especially if you listen to our Parkmanship Podcast, but the Appalachian National Scenic Trail is my local park. The closest trailhead is about 25 minutes away. I’m also not too far from the New England National Scenic Trail as the closest trailhead is about 45 minutes away. I can’t remember my first trip to the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. The first memory I can remember is a trek through Mount Algo and Schaghticoke Mountain in Kent, Connecticut on an oddly warm winter day with my uncle way back in high school. However, I remember the area already being familiar to me so I must have had another adventure there beforehand (most likely with my dad at Bull’s Bridge, which is probably the most popular trailhead in Kent). My first experience with the New England National Scenic Trail is much more recent as it was a visit to the southern terminus during my sister’s wedding weekend. Whereas I have completed the entirety of the New England National Scenic Trail, I’ve come nowhere close to completing the much larger Appalachian Trail. At almost 2,200 miles in distance, it makes the completion of the New England Trail look insignificant in comparison. Yet I’ve completed the entirety of the trail in Connecticut and have hiked portions of the Appalachian Trail in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. With all of this time spent on both of these trails I’ve had many memorable experiences. While the Appalachian Trail has the reputation for its interesting and quirky experiences, I found them in my experience to be more numerous on the New England Trail. Some of them included being stalked by a goat, finding a chicken in the middle of the woods in the middle of nowhere, and finding myself in the middle of a party for an all girls school at a mountain summit in the Holyoke Range. However, I have clear favorite memories for both trails. For the Appalachian Trail, it was my first night hike up Bear Mountain in Connecticut. Obviously, night hiking can be a scary and dangerous endeavor. However, if you can overcome your fears and get experience in a more controlled setting (for me it was night hiking in Acadia National Park where there are no apex predators and all of the mountains have low alpine zones so you can have better visibility), it can be a very rewarding experience. Bear Mountain is the highest mountain peak in Connecticut, which makes for a challenging choice for a night hike. On a winter night, though, it’s an enchanting place with the snowy paths glistening in the light of my headlamp. The peak’s alpine zone reveals expansive views of the New England landscape and the stars are plentiful. You can catch a wonderful sunrise and sunset from there too. My favorite experience on the New England Trail was the one that I opened my article with, completing the damn thing of course.

The New England National Scenic Trail is a worthy addition to the National Park Service and feels of apiece with the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. I’m excited to have more adventures at both.