Notable features include the Hanover Road parking lot and boat launch, semi-obscured (by trees) scenic views of Pond Brook inlet and Lake Lillinonah (Housatonic River), a climb to a high point of 480-foot (150 m), a very large oak tree, several stone fences and foundations and a demonstration of a maple sugaring technique known as "sugarbush" near the Echo Valley Road parking lot.

The western section of the Lillinonah Trail parallels Pond Brook on high eastern bank running south to north.

Inland the trail traverses a hill to a high point of 480 feet and descends south-east until it reaches the western bank of the Housatonic River/Lake Lillinonah.

The southern section of the Lillinonah Trail begins at the Paugussett State Forest parking lot at the end of Echo Valley Road.

After skirting a private property lot it generally travel north and west along the Paugussett State Forest upper block boundary.

The Lillinonah Trail travels near several "milepost" markers labeled with the letters "CL&P" (Connecticut Light and Power).

The two separate shortly before the Lillinonah Trail reaches the Paugussett State Forest parking lot at the end of Echo Valley Road.

A twice-daily passenger service was discontinued in the 1930s and the line was completely shut down in 1948 at the request of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.

[5] Lake Lillinonah is named for the legend of a tragic romance between a Native American (of the Pootatuck / Paugussett tribe) maiden and a European (white) colonist.

[6] The Pootatuck (often spelled Pohtatuck in colonial era documents and related to the name Potatuck) were a branch of the Paugussett tribe who lived along the Housatonic and Pootatuck Rivers near the Sandy Hook area of Newtown, Connecticut (an area which was called "Pohtatuck" before the name was changed to "Sandy Hook").

It is unknown if a permanent Native American settlement existed at or near the upper block of Paugussett State Forest.

The reservoir was prematurely and accidentally flooded by Hurricane Diane on August 19, 1955, a few weeks before the dam was scheduled to commence operation.

[10] In 1985 Shepaug Dam owners opened a free public observation site in Southbury, Connecticut near the hydroelectric generation plant for viewing Lake Lillinonah's Bald Eagles (and other predatory bird species such as hawks).

Reservations are required and the season is limited to the last weekend in December until March 17 on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.[11] The mainline Lillinonah trail is blazed with blue rectangles.

[13] Extensive flooding in ponds, puddles and streams may occur in the late winter or early spring, overflowing into the trail and causing very muddy conditions.