Iron Trail

Dogs Leashed

It is important to note two things about this trail. The first of these is that this trail follows a few different forest roads and like many forest roads, these roads have been well cut up by the treads of trucks and cars. These scared areas are very prone to flooding in the spring and after it rains. The second important note is that this trail is at a relatively high elevation (at least for Connecticut's standards) and the steeper parts of the trail maintain a fairly thick layer of ice even into the spring. This ice can be very thick, cover most if not all of the trail, and make conditions dangerous.

This trail runs from Beckley Iron Furnace State Park to Canaan Mountain Road in Housatonic State Forest. The trail begins at the park after crossing a small motor vehicle bridge. It quickly dives into a fairly dense coniferous forest. After a short while, the trail begins to climb.

In no place is this very steep, but the trail does climb a significant amount. While climbing the trail enters the Canaan Mountain Natural Area Preserve and, through the trees, wide views of the valley are visible. After leveling off, the trail follows a few different forest roads.

While following these roads the trail passes a relatively large rock pile which is the remnant of the fireplace of an old collier's hut. The trail continues fairly flat on these woods roads until it reaches the gate at Canaan Mountain Road.