Farmington Canal

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The Farmington Canal was a major private canal built in the early 1800s to provide water transportation from New Haven to internal parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts and beyond. Its Massachusetts segment was known as the Hampshire and Hampden Canal. With the advent of railroads, it was quickly converted to a railroad in the mid-1800s and in recent years has been converted to a multi-use trail (a rails-to-trails project) after being abandoned for years.

The Farmington Canal Trail runs from downtown New Haven to Northampton, Massachusetts, and, in the sections where it has been completed, provides thousands of people per day with bicycling, hiking and jogging opportunities. In many areas, the trail is lined with historic "lock houses" dating from the time of the original canal, as well as retaining walls, canal locks (elevators for boats), old sections of canal, and other features. A lock house in Cheshire, Connecticut sits alongside one of the remaining preserved locks and has been converted into a museum.

The entire route of the Canal Trail is not yet completed, but it is a major priority for most towns along its route. In August 2006, Yale University announced it would contribute towards the completion of the final two blocks of the trail through downtown New Haven, from Hillhouse Avenue to the Audubon Arts District. The City of New Haven has also recently completed a section of trail running from Yale University to the north end of the city, where it will connect with a very long section of completed trail that runs into the Hartford region.