Indian Heritage and Hiking Trails

This subject came up on our hike yesterday. In CT many of the Blue trails claim to be old indian trails. Granted many of us are on indain trails everyday, they have been expanded and paved and are known as Rt 5, Rt 1 etc especially along major rivers.

The AT in CT loops around the tribal land of the Schaticokes. How many of our trails in the Northeast are ancient?

We have old trails behind my home that were built by the settlers in the early 1700s, which back then were considered roads. I am unsure of any actual or former Indian trails in Boxford.

Good thread, good question! I know that parts of the AT are on old native American trails...... I would imagine that many trails cross or follow parts of them....

This question would make for a good "Hiking With History" type of book. I know that there are trails and woods roads in Harriman and the Catskills that follow roads that were used in the Revolutionary War. There was also a Native American village on Schunemunk Mt., that's part of NY's Long Path.

yes, an interesting thread...
I live not far from the Mohawk Trail, also known as Route 2, in western MA...I'm afraid I don't know a lot of its history but there are Indian pow-wows here in the spring, summer and autumn months...
Anyone else in these parts who can shed a bit more light on this trail?
...Jade

There was a trail known as the Pequaket Trail that ran from Dover, NH, past Ossipee Lake, then to the Conway area. There are some trails in the towns of Freedom and Madison that are old roads that are part of the old Pequaket Trail. I have come across quite a few of the remnants while out surveying. The history along Ossipee Lake is very interesting.

Indian Heritage - Ossipee area

kltilton said:

There was a trail known as the Pequaket Trail that ran from Dover, NH, past Ossipee Lake, then to the Conway area. There are some trails in the towns of Freedom and Madison that are old roads that are part of the old Pequaket Trail. I have come across quite a few of the remnants while out surveying. The history along Ossipee Lake is very interesting.

Click to expand...

The Indian Mound Golf Course on the SW shore of Ossipee Lake was the site of the biggest 17th Cent. Abenaki settlement in that general area south of the one where Fryeburg, Maine is now and both were scenes of fights during the French and Indian Wars. In building the Golf Course, unfortunately, they oblitereted all traces of the settlement, it has been reported.

Can you provide more detail on those old roads in Freedom and Madison?

Thanks, Mike

Brief history of the Mohawk Trail

The name "Post Road" and "Old Post Rd" appear common. I always thought these were mail/post routes, but trading post paths were probably the first meaning.

Indian trails

I know that most of the indian trails in central Connecticut often became colonial roads. These typically followed rivers. Unfortunately most of these trails have been built over. The main trail to Hartford CT came from eastern Mass. crossed the river near Chicopee MA and went down the west side of the Connecticut river. It is now covered with rail tracks. Peoples Forest in New Hartford CT is one place where there was an indian village and some of the trails there look like they could have been used for ages. I'm sure there are many more in the more remote places in New England.