Housatonic Flats Reserve

Easy level trail. Usually do 2 laps with our dog.

Perfect for a quick walk if you need a moment to relax and reset in nature. Easy parking too!

Very nice walk along the water.

I appreciate the effort to open up more natural spaces and build more publicly accessible trails, but my experience here left me feeling a little disappointed. It’s a nice easy loop but most of it is more of a mowed path through a meadow than a proper trail. As others have mentioned, the combination of high grasses and wetlands means it’s full of mosquitoes (and ticks).
For better options for short, easy walks, I recommend the trails behind the Lake Mansfield parking lot or French Park.

Great place to hike. Even terrain for most of the trail, easy to follow trail with signs. Enjoyable walk.

Soft flat easy trail of about a mile loop along a little narrow area of the Housatonic River. With tremendous amount of work by volunteers the whole area which was once dumping ground for everything is now a serene little jewel of an edge of wetlands. A good run for active dogs, or a leisurely stroll for elderly ones. Contained on one side by route 7 and the other side by the river.

Mellow, flat and very short (under 1 mile) loop. Friendly for all levels, families, and any time I go it is explored by (friendly) dog owners. The river is beautiful. My experience is that it can be quite buggy in the spring and summer, likely due to its proximity to water. Otherwise it is a rather enjoyable experience of nature just off the main road.