Putnam CT - Dog Friendly Parks, Walks & Places

Putnam River Walk

Dates visited: 9/15/2020 & 7/23/2021

This is a paved walkway along the river, adorned by a number of interesting sculptures. I had actually picked out what was supposed to be a nice sunny day to do this walk, but there was a thick haze all day caused by the smoke from the wildfires in California that made it's way all the way to Connecticut! My favorite part of the walk was the butterfly optical illusion on the sidewalk. I took the picture with the dogs at just the right time of day where the dog's shadows matched the painting perfectly! The picture with the dog sculpture is actually the entrance to the Putnam Dog Park. We came back in July, after weeks of heavy rain in the area. You can see the difference in the river water levels on some of the pictures below. The falls were really ripping!

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River Mills Heritage Trail

Date visited: 7/23/2021

This isn't really a trail, it's more of a guided walk on sidewalks around a historic neighborhood. There are signs that indicate the route. I was following a map on the phone. This walk is mostly on the other side of the Quinebaug River from the Putnam River Walk, but shares the same path when it circles back to the other side. There is a small section that veers away from the road behind the police station.

Quaddick State Forest

Date visited: 6/17/2024

We were hiking a loop trail around Peck Pond at Pulaski State Park in Burrillville, RI. A small section of the trail, near the dam, ventures into the Quaddick State Forest in the Connecticut towns of Putnam and Thompson. The pictures below are from the Putnam section of the trail.

Air-Line Trail

Date visited: 11/23/2025

There are two sections of the trail in Putnam with a gap between them. This is the 0.8 mile section that runs from the Pomfret town line at the Moduck Road Bridge to Town Farm Road. We were hiking the Pomfret section and decided to turn around just after the bridge. We will save the rest of this section in Putnam for another day.

Air-Line Trail

Date visited: 4/1/2026

We started at the Town Farm Road trailhead and headed southwest to the Moduck Road Bridge where we had turned around on our previous visit. This section was quite muddy in spots, and I had to carry the dogs through some of the mud puddles. On the way back from the Moduck Road Bridge, we took a detour around the River Road tunnel and walked back to where we started via River Road and Town Farm Road. We tried to continue along the trail northwest of Town Farm Road, but it was completely flooded and impassable, so we didn't get very far. We wound up walking only a total of 2.5 miles. It was warm and humid, but a dreary day. It started to pour shortly after we left, so maybe it was a good thing we weren't able to continue on the trail. The highlight of this walk was the farm near where we parked with some very curious goats!