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ColebrookCT TownHallPhoto: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 3.0
B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Colebrook

25% of Colebrook’s land is conserved: 4,970 acres

48 miles of mapped trail cross Colebrook, 1.5 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Norbrook Farm (14.8 mi), Colebrook Reservoir Watershed Reserve Land (10.7 mi), Algonquin State Forest (7.8 mi). 15% of residents live within a half mile of a park.

Ahead of 66% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Conserved land
25%
4,970 acres · of 31.6 sq mi of land
Trails
48 mi
1.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
14 ac
9.4 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
15%
of residents within ½ mile
Highest peak
1,444 ft
Panorama Hill
Lakes & rivers
19
2 beaches · 1 boat launch

What kind of outdoors town is Colebrook?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Land that stays wild25% of the land is conserved; a typical Connecticut town, 15%.A trail town1.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 89% of U.S. towns.History along the way5 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Colebrook have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Colebrook is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.

B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Colebrook’s overall grade.
Conserved land25% of the land · typical CT town 15% · U.S. 4%ATrails1.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (48 mi) · CT 1.4 · U.S. 0.4APark land9.4 acres of park per 1,000 residents (14 acres) · CT 22 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home15% of residents within a half mile of a park · CT 57% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 66%
LessMore

Connecticut towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 15%; the U.S., 4%), so Colebrook’s 25% is ahead of 79% of Connecticut towns, while its trails per square mile lead 58% of them.

How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.

PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →

The map

Conserved land, trails & bike routes

Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.

1234567
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk

Pick a walk

The longest trail network is Norbrook Farm, with 14.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Norbrook Farm

Managed by Farm Credit East ACA
410 acres14.8 mi of trail
Route 66Steve Quinn Memorial Bike TrailSherpaTraverse+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Colebrook Reservoir Watershed Reserve Land

Managed by The Metropolitan District
4,241 acres10.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Algonquin State Forest

Managed by State of Connecticut
2,365 acres7.8 mi of trail
Yellow TrailRed + Orange Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Camp Jewell

Managed by YMCA of Metrpolitan Hartford
532 acres4.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Charlie Arnold Property

Managed by Town of Colebrook
133 acres1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

The Nature Conservancy Girdler Property (Easement)

Nature preserve
106 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet

Town Hall And Museum

Managed by Town of Colebrook
53 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 13 parks & preserves
Norbrook Farm410 acres · 14.8 mi of trail · Farm Credit East ACA
Directions
Colebrook Reservoir Watershed Reserve Land4,241 acres · 10.7 mi of trail · The Metropolitan District
Directions
Algonquin State Forest2,365 acres · 7.8 mi of trail · State of Connecticut
Directions
Camp Jewell532 acres · 4.5 mi of trail · YMCA of Metrpolitan Hartford
Directions
Charlie Arnold Property133 acres · 1 mi of trail · Town of Colebrook
The Nature Conservancy Girdler Property (Easement)106 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
Town Hall And Museum53 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · Town of Colebrook
Directions
Colebrook Land Conservancy101 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Colebrook Land Conservancy
Directions
Phelps Natural Resource Area457 acres · Colebrook Land Conservancy
Tunxis State Forest137 acres · Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Bobriwka123 acres · Bobriwka Inc.
The Nature Conservancy Grigg Property (Easement) Reverted14 acres
Maasser Park13 acres
Who protects it

4,970 conserved acres

25% of Colebrook’s land. Who manages Colebrook’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Land trusts & nonprofits1,239 ac
Private owners468 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government190 ac
State conservation53 ac
Not recorded3,757 ac
State Resource Management Area · 2,446 acPrivate Conservation · 1,462 acUnknown Easement · 1,120 acConservation Easement · 447 acLocal Other or Unknown · 161 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 847 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 95 of 111 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Algonquin State Forest
State Resource Management Area
Not recorded1,773Unknown
Unknown
Private Conservation
Not recorded560Unknown
Algonquin State Forest (Old Forest Management Area)
State Resource Management Area
Not recorded536Unknown
Camp Jewell
Private Conservation
Not recorded529Unknown
Colebrook Land Conservancy Property
Private Conservation
Land trusts & nonprofits403Closed
Tunxis State Forest
State Resource Management Area
Not recorded137Unknown
Charlie Arnold Property
Local Other or Unknown
Not recorded94Unknown
Sandy Brook Natural Area Preserve
State Other or Unknown
Not recorded41Unknown
Ralph G. Cooper and Dorothy B. Cooper Memorial Fo*
Local Other or Unknown
Not recorded27Unknown
Kitchel Wilderness Area
State Conservation Area
Not recorded23Unknown

5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

16 places to go in Colebrook

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Peaks in Colebrook
Panorama Hill1,444 ft elevation
Directions
Beecher Hill1,411 ft elevation · In Colebrook Reservoir Watershed Reserve Land
Directions
Beech Hill1,407 ft elevation
Directions
Mount Pisgah1,385 ft elevation
Directions
Eno Hill1,230 ft elevation · In Charlie Arnold Property
Directions
Trails & water

25 named trails and 19 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Unpaved · 8.9 mi
Sandy Brook Trail1.2 mi
Route 661.2 mi
Steve Quinn Memorial Bike Trail1.0 mi
Yellow Trail0.9 mi
Sherpa0.8 mi
Traverse0.8 mi
Longshot0.8 mi
Dive Bomb0.7 mi
Hale Trail0.6 mi
Double Down0.6 mi
15 more trails
Ford's Folley
0.6 mi
Flying Squirrel
0.5 mi
Lost Camp Trail
0.5 mi
Dirt Sessions
0.5 mi
Old Oak
0.5 mi
Warm Up
0.4 mi
Midway
0.3 mi
I-95
0.3 mi
Rockwell Trail
0.3 mi
Northern Access
0.2 mi
Too Steep Trail
0.2 mi
Mountain View
0.2 mi
Creekside
0.2 mi
Virginia's Ridge
0.2 mi
Connector
0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Blake PondBrookside PondBunnells PondCastle PondpondColebrook River LakereservoirCurrier PondDeer Hill PondGaylord PondpondLemanquais PondreservoirLily PondMetro PondpondPhelps PondpondSchwartz PondreservoirTerry PondThomas PondTriangle LakeWeidner PondWest Branch ReservoirreservoirWest Branch Farmington River
Biking & sports

0.0 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

Courts & fields
1Basketball
1Baseball

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

5 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).

History →
Arah Phelps InnBuilding · listed 1971
About it
Colebrook StoreBuilding · listed 1976
About it
Phelps Farms Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1983
About it
Colebrook Center Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1991
About it
Rock HallBuilding · listed 2010
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Colebrook: May to September

NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.410.511.813.314.515.214.913.912.411.09.79.1
High (°F)333644576876817972604837
Rain (in)3.83.34.34.14.14.84.64.65.05.34.14.7

February is the driest month (3.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 5.3 inches fall in October, the wettest month. The climate in Colebrook →

Next door

Colebrook and its neighbors

Colebrook has the second most mapped trails of the 4 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Norfolk50 miColebrook48 miHartland34 miWinchester23 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Colebrook25%1.5915%B+
Winchester14%0.710476%A
Hartland49%1.022634%A
Norfolk50%1.11,00353%A

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Colebrook

Where can I hike in Colebrook?

The longest trail networks: Norbrook Farm, 14.8 miles; Colebrook Reservoir Watershed Reserve Land, 10.7 miles; Algonquin State Forest, 7.8 miles; Camp Jewell, 4.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Colebrook is conserved land?

25% of its land, against a typical 15% for a Connecticut town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.

Are dogs allowed on Colebrook’s trails?

Norbrook Farm and Colebrook Reservoir Watershed Reserve Land don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Is there public land near Colebrook?

39,229 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Colebrook or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 17 of them inside the town line.

How much outdoors does Colebrook have?

Ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

Trail talk

Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Colebrook neighbors.

Town Square →
Share a tip
Sources

Where this page comes from

Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →