The Menunkatuck Trail is a wonderful 16 mile Blue Blazed hiking trail in Guilford Connecticut. We did this trail in two equal sections so this guide is split into two ‘mini guides’ Both start from a parking point near Guildford Lakes, The first heading south to the end and the shoreline, and the second section guide again starting from the Guildford Lakes parking area and heading north to the finish where the trail meets up with the Mattabesset Trail.

This guide will give you everything you need to enjoy and get the most out of this trail including its history, what to expect underfoot, best places to park and map and gpx download files.

This trail is also part of the much bigger New England Trail which stretches 200 miles from the Connecticut Shoreline to the top of Massachusetts.

In 1639, the land around this trail would become the Plantation of Menunkatuck and was home to the Menunkatuck band, whose name may refer to the fertilizer generated by the abundant menhaden, a fish in the herring family.

The Menunkatuck were led by a female sachem, often referred to as the Squaw Sachem, Shaumpishuh. She was sister to the Grand Sachem Momaugin, who signed the First Treaty with the English planters at New Haven in 1638. In 1639, Shaumpishuh signed a deed that conveyed use of all the land of present-day Guilford .

A large portion of the Menunkatuck Trail passes through or near protected wetlands: bogs, swamps, vernal ponds and marsh lands. Wooden walkways are planned to allow easy passage over some of these which flood or become muddy often. The video we took below gives you an idea of many of the stream crossings in winter.

Guildford Lakes to the Shoreline Section- 8 miles

Meandering Wood Paths with stream crossings

We found that on a sleety rainy cold January we had a lot of streams to cross which mostly had stepping stones to help you carefully over. Despite how wet the trail is we absolutely loved this trail and its uniqueness for a number of reasons.

Open Fields and Waterways

One of the things I miss from running and hiking in the UK was the open fields and farmland so it was a pleasant surprise that the path took us along the side of some vast open fields. It reminded me strongly of the North Downs Way which skirts round Guildford in the UK.

Stunning Green Boulder Fields in the Woods

After the open fields we were surprised to see a trail that led through a wood with a giant boulder field. It was the unusual colors that was most surprising, a peachy orange of some of the leaves still on the trees and a bright green of lichen on the rocks that was superceding the usual dark green moss we see in other areas. Its possible that this change happens as the land gets closer to the brackish waterways that meet up with the sea. Whatever the reason its a stunning mile or two through the woods.

Historic Guilford

There is a 1.5 mile segment from the trail on the road to get you to Guilford but its well worth doing. Going through Guilford made me smile. I lived in Guildford UK before I moved to Connecticut so it was really special to visit a town named after my old home and named by people from my old town nearly 400 years ago.

First settled by Europeans in 1639 after being purchased from Native American leader Wequash, Guilford is considered by some to have the third largest collection of historic homes in New England, with important buildings from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. There are five historic house museums, including Dudley Farm and the Henry Whitfield House (1639), the oldest dwelling house in Connecticut and the oldest stone house built by English settlers in North America. The Comfort Starr House (1645–46) is one of the oldest wooden framed private dwellings in Connecticut, and one of the few houses remaining of the original signers who settled there.

The Shoreline

The path ambles on down to the shoreline which is also known as the Southern Gateway to the New England Trail. We got a grey but impressive view over the windy dunes to the Beach and sea beyond. It was a really great end to a trail that started in the woods, went through a historic town and ended on the beach.

What we thought would be an easy meandering miles to bag some Blue Blaze mileage ( we are hike/running all of the 815 miles of Blue Blaze Trails in 2019) our run in bad weather became one of my biggest surprises for a Blue Blaze Trail this month.

This trail has so many unique surprises its well worth a visit for the day.

Guildford Lakes north to the Mattabesset Trail – 8 Miles

Even better than the first half

We returned to do the other half of the Menunkatuck Trail in February and again parked at Guildford Lakes by the road but this time headed north for 8 miles.

Bridges !

This section is beautiful, and more importantly much drier ! There are more structured bridges and less stream crossings and the path is more elevated as it gets further from the sea so its less mushy underfoot.

The path has a wonderful mix of meandering trails through the woods , with a few rocky scrambles and runs round rocky outcrops. We also got glimpses of ponds, lakes and streams along the trail .

As you get further to the north and closer to the Mattabesset Trail you’ll notice in increase in the amount of hills and ridges you go over and round. This second half of the trail delighted us as much as the first half, and taken as a whole I think you would be hard to find a 16 miles trail with more varied terrain and views as this one. I suspect this will stay in my top ten Blue Blaze Trails of CT for a long time!

Useful Information

Parking we started where the Trail crosses North Madison Road near Guildford Lakes ( and left a car there) and parked our other car at the shoreline. You could park at the Shoreline Diner instead of the shore and make the trail 5 miles long instead with a nice meal or drink when you get back !

Distance and Elevation – we did 8 miles ( half of the whole trail) which you could easily cut shorter by using the Diner to park. There was only about 500ft of total elevation over the 8 miles, most of which was going over the footbridge at Guilford Train Station!

Garmin Connect Account details and GPX file download here