Location

Depot Rd, Groton

 

 

    

Difficulty--

Easy:33%, Moderate:50%, Difficult:15%, Caution:2%

Mountain Bike Adventure Ride August 18, 2013

Description

If you want coastal riding with Long Island Sound frontage, this is your best option in CT by far. Bluff Point State Park is really two areas: The state park is the smaller of the two, the coastal reserve is what everyone considers "Bluff Point". The area has a main fire road loop around the perimeter which is double track and perfect for family riding. The front gravel road is the easiest and the back road a bit rugged, but passable. A cinder road leads eastward from the parking area over toward the Amtrak tracks linking Bluff Point to Haley Farm State Park. Great to add distance. As for single track, go south past the park signs and take your first left. You're in a network of trails traversing the hill, riding the "double down" into "the swamp" and finding the good stuff. For more free-ride type trails, venture north of the cinder road into the "Ho-Chi Min" area in the state park section. Cool stuff in there. Be sure and ride the main fire road to the beach and bluff viewing spot and see if you can find the single track along the cliffs. Beautiful in the morning at sunrise.

                                  Map      DEP Site

Directions

I-95 to Exit 88. Take Rte 117S to the end. Go right (east) on Rte 1 1 light to Dairy Queen. Make a left there and stay on Depot Road under the train tracks.

Miscellani
Picnic tables at the parking area and a small un-improved beach make a family day with a sneak off ride a reality. Often BP is rideable in winter (coastal storms are rain and not snow) when the rest of the trails aren't. Watch the message boards.

 

Cautions
VERY popular park (second most popular state park in CT). Often times the parking lot is crowded, but strangely, the trails aren't over-ridden.

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