This corner of the state is a landscape of reservoirs, small rivers and stone walls, with the Housatonic River held in two long lakes behind dams at Lake Zoar and Lake Lillinonah. The ride that uses this point is billed as a Delaware Water Gap long day, and that lies a long way west, so treat this as a starting or finishing area for a much bigger loop through New York and New Jersey.
Newtown has the feel of a New England village that has been politely absorbed by commuters. A tall flagpole stands in the middle of Main Street, raised in the 1870s as a Civil War memorial, and white clapboard houses line the road on both sides. Easton, a little further south, is dominated by water, with the Aspetuck Reservoir and its surrounding woodland keeping the region leafy and the traffic light. Trumbull, much bigger, has fuel, food and the usual retail strip.
The roads here are not dramatic, but they are good fun for an easy morning. Route 25 and Route 58 undulate over low hills and through farm country, with tight little corners, blind crests and the odd dip where a brook crosses the road. The surface is patched and sometimes rough after winter. Deer are frequent, and so are cyclists. Near the coast the Merritt Parkway, a 1930s road famous for its Art Deco bridges and its landscaped verges, is a pleasure at a gentle pace, but trucks are banned and the limit is strictly kept, so do not expect to hurry.
You are about 11 kilometres from Easton, the nearest town with more than five thousand people, and you will find fuel there and in Trumbull. Smaller villages have a general store or a deli, but the night belongs to the commuter belt, and many places close early. A swim is possible at the lakes and reservoirs, though access is controlled and some of the beaches belong to residents. In late October, when the maples turn, the whole region is gloriously, almost theatrically, red and gold.