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Family-Friendly Hikes near Branford

We track 99 routes that match this search near Branford. They average 1.4 km, with the longest running to 6.8 km.

That is 56 percent of the 178 routes we map near Branford. They are shorter than the local average, 1.4 km against 3.1 km, which is what makes this a practical shortlist for a half day. They also climb less than the area average, 21 m (69 ft) against 66 m (217 ft), so they suit a recovery day or a group with mixed fitness.

Family routes here are short, gently graded and interesting enough to keep younger legs moving. Every one is under seven kilometres with limited climbing. Most of these are on the gentler end, which makes the list a good starting point if you are new to the area.

Trails

The abandoned railbed of the Middletown–Middlefield streetcar line, seen in Marzalek Park in Middletown in March 2023
Easy

Little Falls Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
1.1 km
/ 0.7 mi
Elevation gain
32 m
Typical duration
16 min
  • Waterfall
  • Waymarked route
The abandoned railbed of the Middletown–Middlefield streetcar line, seen in Marzalek Park in Middletown in March 2023
Easy

Laurel Grove Brook Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
1.4 km
/ 0.9 mi
Elevation gain
27 m
Typical duration
20 min
  • River
  • Waymarked route
Meeting House Hill Historic District , Guilford, Connecticut.
Easy

Munger Brook Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
1.3 km
/ 0.8 mi
Elevation gain
19 m
Typical duration
17 min
  • River
  • Waymarked route
The refuge's Falkner Island Unit. Refuge staff will soon head out to the refuge's other island units to assess damages. Credit: Tylar Greene/USFWS Stay informed www.facebook.com/usfwsnortheast www.twitter.com/usfwsnortheast
Easy

Spencers Creek Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.7 km
/ 0.4 mi
Elevation gain
6 m
Typical duration
9 min
  • River
  • Waymarked route
Rowdy at Angel's Peak
Easy

Raptor Woods Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
1.7 km
/ 1.0 mi
Elevation gain
36 m
Typical duration
24 min
  • Forest
  • Waymarked route
New England Cement Company Quarry , Woodbridge, Connecticut.
Easy

Blue Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
3.5 km
/ 2.1 mi
Elevation gain
24 m
Typical duration
45 min
  • Waymarked route
View of Earth taken during ISS Expedition 63.
Easy

Hazen Green Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.4 km
/ 0.3 mi
Elevation gain
46 m
Typical duration
10 min
  • Waymarked route
View of Earth taken during ISS Expedition 38.
Easy

Black Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
1.3 km
/ 0.8 mi
Elevation gain
15 m
Typical duration
18 min
  • Waymarked route
View of Earth taken during ISS Expedition 38.
Easy

Blue Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.8 km
/ 0.5 mi
Typical duration
10 min
  • Waymarked route
The abandoned railbed of the Middletown–Middlefield streetcar line, seen in Marzalek Park in Middletown in March 2023
Easy

Bridge Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.6 km
/ 0.4 mi
Typical duration
7 min
  • Waymarked route
View of Earth taken during ISS Expedition 45.
Easy

Cabin Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.6 km
/ 0.4 mi
Elevation gain
6 m
Typical duration
8 min
  • Waymarked route
View of Earth taken during ISS Expedition 45.
Easy

Eric L. Stone Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
3.8 km
/ 2.4 mi
Elevation gain
25 m
Typical duration
50 min
  • Waymarked route
Crambus agitatellus
Easy

Fishing Spur Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.5 km
/ 0.3 mi
Elevation gain
37 m
Typical duration
10 min
  • Waymarked route
View of Earth taken during ISS Expedition 38.
Easy

Green Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
2.1 km
/ 1.3 mi
Elevation gain
45 m
Typical duration
30 min
  • Waymarked route
View of Earth taken during ISS Expedition 38.
Easy

Green Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.6 km
/ 0.4 mi
Elevation gain
12 m
Typical duration
9 min
  • Waymarked route
View of Earth taken during ISS Expedition 63.
Easy

Hazen Blue Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.7 km
/ 0.4 mi
Elevation gain
7 m
Typical duration
9 min
  • Waymarked route
View of Earth taken during ISS Expedition 63.
Easy

Hazen Yellow Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.6 km
/ 0.4 mi
Elevation gain
9 m
Typical duration
8 min
  • Waymarked route
Rowdy at Angel's Peak
Easy

Mead School Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
1.4 km
/ 0.9 mi
Elevation gain
33 m
Typical duration
21 min
  • Waymarked route
Meeting House Hill Historic District , Guilford, Connecticut.
Easy

North Loop

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.7 km
/ 0.5 mi
Elevation gain
12 m
Typical duration
10 min
  • Waymarked route
South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority's Lake Watrous reservoir reflecting West Rock Ridge shrouded in early morning mist. The dam and control building are on the far right.
Easy

Old Field Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.9 km
/ 0.5 mi
Elevation gain
22 m
Typical duration
13 min
  • Waymarked route
View of Earth taken during ISS Expedition 38.
Easy

Orange Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.8 km
/ 0.5 mi
Elevation gain
14 m
Typical duration
12 min
  • Waymarked route
Jared Eliot House , Guilford, Connecticut.
Easy

Paul Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
2.2 km
/ 1.4 mi
Elevation gain
25 m
Typical duration
30 min
  • Waymarked route
en:Bishop's Orchards
Easy

Red Rectangle

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.7 km
/ 0.4 mi
Elevation gain
15 m
Typical duration
10 min
  • Waymarked route
View of Earth taken during ISS Expedition 38.
Easy

Red Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
1.8 km
/ 1.1 mi
Elevation gain
43 m
Typical duration
26 min
  • Waymarked route
Rowdy at Angel's Peak
Easy

Redwing Pond Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.7 km
/ 0.4 mi
Elevation gain
8 m
Typical duration
10 min
  • Waymarked route
Rowdy at Angel's Peak
Easy

Self-Guided Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.5 km
/ 0.3 mi
Typical duration
6 min
  • Waymarked route
Meeting House Hill Historic District , Guilford, Connecticut.
Easy

South Loop

Connecticut · United States

Distance
1.0 km
/ 0.6 mi
Elevation gain
14 m
Typical duration
13 min
  • Waymarked route
View of Earth taken during ISS Expedition 45.
Easy

Stony Loam Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.8 km
/ 0.5 mi
Elevation gain
13 m
Typical duration
12 min
  • Waymarked route
View of Earth taken during ISS Expedition 38.
Easy

Teal Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.8 km
/ 0.5 mi
Elevation gain
23 m
Typical duration
12 min
  • Waymarked route
Hamden Connecticut's Sleeping Giant Mountain from the Quinnipiac river.
Easy

Tidal Marsh Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
1.1 km
/ 0.7 mi
Typical duration
13 min
  • Waymarked route
Crambus agitatellus
Easy

Tulip Tree Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.6 km
/ 0.4 mi
Elevation gain
7 m
Typical duration
8 min
  • Waymarked route
The abandoned railbed of the Middletown–Middlefield streetcar line, seen in Marzalek Park in Middletown in March 2023
Easy

White Birch Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.8 km
/ 0.5 mi
Elevation gain
36 m
Typical duration
13 min
  • Waymarked route
en:Bishop's Orchards
Easy

White Rectangle

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.4 km
/ 0.3 mi
Elevation gain
10 m
Typical duration
6 min
  • Waymarked route
Mattabesett Blue-Blazed Trail. Lamentation Mountain looking north from Lamentation ridge line.
Easy

White Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
1.9 km
/ 1.2 mi
Elevation gain
41 m
Typical duration
28 min
  • Waymarked route
en:Bishop's Orchards
Easy

Yellow Triangle

Connecticut · United States

Distance
1.3 km
/ 0.8 mi
Typical duration
17 min
  • Waymarked route
Sleeping Giant Tower, 200 Mt. Carmel Ave. at Mt. Carmel summit, Sleeping Giant State Park Hamden
Easy

Lost Vista Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.5 km
/ 0.3 mi
Elevation gain
44 m
Typical duration
10 min
  • Panoramic viewpoint
USA: Connecticut, New Haven County, Guilford, East River Preserve [coordinates obscured]. We observed about 15 same-size individuals emerge from a hibernaculum; some remained as a group shallowly burried in sun-lit patch of leaf litter, whi
Easy

Bear House Hill Road trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
3.4 km
/ 2.1 mi
Elevation gain
60 m
Typical duration
48 min
  • Waymarked route
K-Club, Rockfall Connecticut
Easy

Main Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
2.6 km
/ 1.6 mi
Elevation gain
42 m
Typical duration
37 min
  • Waymarked route
View from Quinnipiac River Park in Fair Haven looking northeast toward the Fair Haven Heights neighborhood with the spire of Saint James Episcopal Church on East Grand Avenue visible.
Easy

Meadow Walk

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.6 km
/ 0.4 mi
Typical duration
8 min
  • Alpine meadow
East Rock Park
Easy

Mill River Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
5.6 km
/ 3.5 mi
Elevation gain
41 m
Typical duration
1 hr 14 min
  • River
View from Quinnipiac River Park in Fair Haven looking northeast toward the Fair Haven Heights neighborhood with the spire of Saint James Episcopal Church on East Grand Avenue visible.
Easy

River Walk

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.5 km
/ 0.3 mi
Typical duration
7 min
  • River
Lake Saltonstall and the RWA trail on the east side of the lake.
Easy

Ridge Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
4.6 km
/ 2.9 mi
Elevation gain
75 m
Typical duration
1 hr 5 min
  • Mountain
  • Waymarked route
South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority's Lake Watrous reservoir reflecting West Rock Ridge shrouded in early morning mist. The dam and control building are on the far right.
Easy

Sargent River Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
1.9 km
/ 1.2 mi
Elevation gain
21 m
Typical duration
26 min
  • River
  • Waymarked route
View of Earth taken during ISS Expedition 43.
Easy

Blue Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
1.2 km
/ 0.8 mi
Elevation gain
53 m
Typical duration
20 min
  • Waymarked route
Woodsia ilvensis in Bluff Head Preserve, Guilford, CT, USA
Easy

Cooks Lane Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
1.1 km
/ 0.7 mi
Elevation gain
84 m
Typical duration
21 min
  • Waymarked route
The east abutment of the former Meriden, Waterbury and Connecticut River Railroad bridge over the Quinnnipiac River, seen in March 2023
Easy

Ives Blue Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
1.7 km
/ 1.1 mi
Elevation gain
36 m
Typical duration
25 min
  • Waymarked route
The east abutment of the former Meriden, Waterbury and Connecticut River Railroad bridge over the Quinnnipiac River, seen in March 2023
Easy

Ives Red Trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
0.6 km
/ 0.3 mi
Typical duration
7 min
  • Waymarked route
USA: Connecticut, New Haven County, Guilford, East River Preserve [coordinates obscured]. We observed about 15 same-size individuals emerge from a hibernaculum; some remained as a group shallowly burried in sun-lit patch of leaf litter, whi
Easy

Power line trail

Connecticut · United States

Distance
1.4 km
/ 0.9 mi
Typical duration
18 min
  • Waymarked route

The shortlist, side by side

The ten highest scoring routes on this page, so you can compare effort before opening any of them.

Distance, ascent, walking time and difficulty for the top routes
RouteDistanceAscentTimeDifficultyBest season
Little Falls TrailConnecticut1.1 km32 m16 minEasyApril to October
Laurel Grove Brook TrailConnecticut1.4 km27 m20 minEasyApril to October
Munger Brook TrailConnecticut1.3 km19 m17 minEasyApril to October
Spencers Creek TrailConnecticut0.7 km6 m9 minEasyApril to October
Raptor Woods TrailConnecticut1.7 km36 m24 minEasyApril to October
Blue TrailConnecticut3.5 km24 m45 minEasyApril to October
Hazen Green TrailConnecticut0.4 km46 m10 minEasyApril to October
Black TrailConnecticut1.3 km15 m18 minEasyApril to October
Blue TrailConnecticut0.8 kmflat10 minEasyApril to October
Bridge TrailConnecticut0.6 kmflat7 minEasyApril to October

If you only have time for one, start with Little Falls Trail, Laurel Grove Brook Trail, Munger Brook Trail. Those are the routes people come back to. Every route on this page links through to a full guide with the map, elevation profile, seasonal advice and what to bring.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

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