Length:                  Route 63 parking lot to Kettletown Road; 10.7 miles

                                Route 63 parking lot to Letterbox; 1.1 miles

                                 Allerton Farm Road to Letterbox; 1/4 mile

Difficulty:             Moderate. Flat hard packed surface.

                                Mountain bike recommended if biking.

Directions:           Take exit 17 off of I-84.

Westbound; the exit drops you onto Route 64 west. At the junction of Route 63, turn left onto Route 63 south. You travel under the I-84 overpass and continue down Route 63. Just after you pass by a sign on the left reading "Hop Brook" look for a brown sign on your right that says "Larkin State Bridle Trail". A small gravel parking lot is just off the road.  

Eastbound; At the end of the exit ramp, take a right onto Route 63 south. Travel 2.1 miles. See directions above.

To start from Allerton Farm Road; see westbound directions. After you travel underneath the underpass, pass by Route 188 on your right and take the next right onto Allerton Farms Road. Continue straight at the stop sign and after 0.8 miles the trail crosses the road. Just after the trail is a small pullout for parking on your right. See clues and head west up the trail.

The Larkin Bridle Trail is along a former rail bed. Built in 1881, the New York and New England Railroad ran between western Connecticut and New York. It was abandoned in 1939. In 1943, Charles Larkin gifted the rail bed to the state for use as a bridle trail. Horses, bikers and hikers now share the trail.

The trail runs in a mostly east-west direction for 10.7 miles. Starting in the east at the Route 63 parking lot, a short trail brings you from the parking lot to bridle trail. As you head West, the trail gradually climbs to Towantic Hill, about halfway, then gradually slopes downward to Kettletown Road. The first couple of miles, the trail is a wide, smooth, hard packed surface. It then narrows and has rougher surfaces, best navigated with a mountain bike. It passes through typical Connecticut woodland and rises high above the land where fill was added for the railroad. The western end is more open, with wetland, a power line crossing and a nearby small airport. Please use caution at road crossings, as there are no crosswalks.

From the start of the eastern end, travel along the trail until you come to a road crossing (this is Allerton Farm Road). Cross the road and head along a high berm, with slopes descending steeply on both sides. You will see a small pond down below on your right. Keep an eye out for a small granite marker on your left along the trail. This is roughly the one mile mark. Continue along the berm looking left for a second granite marker. From this marker take 35 paces (2 steps = 1 pace) further along the berm and you'll see a small path to your left. This is the end of the steep berm along the left side of the trail, but not the right. Take this path and travel 17 paces, first crossing a small  stream (may be dry during the summer months), up a slight hill. You'll pass a large tree along the right side of this path and then come to a small boulder along the left side of the path. Look just past this boulder and spot a larger boulder a couple of paces off the path. Go to the left corner and spot a small rock on top of a flat rock. Remove these two rocks, reach inside and grab the Larkin Bridle Trail Letterbox. Please replace these rocks as you found them.