The developed section of the trail within state park boundaries runs over 17.0 miles (27.4 km) from Lazy Lane in Southington to Todd Street in Hamden and includes the historic Farmington Canal's restored Lock 12, located south of Brooksvale Road in Cheshire.

The paved, multiple-use trail is used for hiking, biking, jogging, in-line skating and cross-country skiing.

[2] The site of the greenway was originally used by the native Quinnipiac tribes as a path prior to its expansion as a road by the colonists.

[3] In 1822, it was proposed that a canal be dug for water transportation as a route to bypass the Connecticut River traffic through Hartford.

[4] Leary wrote that the canal began at Long Wharf in New Haven, Connecticut and exited the state of by the Congamnond Ponds, some 56 miles (90 km) to the north.

[2] Railroad service was discontinued over most of the canal line and central New England by the late 1980s, but a "rails-to-trails" movement was created.

The one is a 5.5 miles (8.9 km) multi-use trail extending south from Cornwall Avenue in Cheshire to Todd Street in Hamden.

[3] The second is a 12.0 miles (19.3 km) trail that runs from Connecticut Route 68 in Cheshire to Lazy Lane in Southington.