Recreation
Read about all of the seasonal joys of river recreation: fly fishing in the spring, frostbite sailing in the winter, kayak and canoe trips, riverside bicycle tours, and camping.

Fly-Fishing the Headwaters

September 1, 2023

Some of the finest fly-fishing in all of New England takes place in the headwaters of the Connecticut River, in Pittsburg, New Hampshire....

Mount Sugarloaf

September 1, 2023

Last fall I set out once again to witness the magnificent foliage of Mount Sugarloaf in the late afternoon light....

Casting About- New Column Starts with Fall Issue

June 1, 2023

In the Fall issue of Estuary, Ed Mitchel will begin a regular column on the fine art of fly-fishing throughout the Connecticut River watershed. The column, entitled “Casting About,” will feature stories from Ed’s long association with the fly-fishing world, including the best environs for fish, equipment, attire, and skills required, as well as the best places to go for the best results....

Farmington River Fun: Recreation for Everyone in the Valley

June 1, 2023

From the observation room at the top of Heublein Tower on Talcott Mountain, you stand almost 1,000 feet above the Farmington River. The magnificent castle was a summer retreat promised by Gilbert Heublein to his wife, Louise, and opened to the public in 1974. Today, it stands just off the New England National Scenic Trail and has one of the best views in southern New England....

Tour de Lyme

March 10, 2023

Octogenarians to tykes unite and pedal the pavement and trails for a good cause....

Team Drive

March 1, 2023

Way back when, Smith College’s different look and a different outlook....

Tour de Lyme

March 1, 2023

Octogenarians to tykes unite and pedal the pavement and trails for a good cause....

Ride the Connecticut River on Two Wheels

August 31, 2022

My husband, Paul, and I love to explore by bicycle, and we love a water view. When you can combine the two, it’s a recipe for a great day out. The Connecticut River affords many attractive options. In this article, I describe one on the lower Connecticut and one in New Hampshire and Vermont....

Brattleboro Hinsdale Bridge

May 31, 2022

A greenway with historic bridges and an island park, community connections to businesses, social services, recreational trails, and revitalization of downtown Brattleboro, Vermont: these are among the many benefits associated with a long-anticipated new bridge at the Connecticut River Route 119 crossing between Brattleboro and Hinsdale, New Hampshire....

Rowing

December 1, 2021

Dating back to the 1800s, it’s been an image tied to the Connecticut River: rowers in shells—long, impossibly slim boats—cutting through the water, powered by four or eight students, each hauling on an oar and steered by an ever-encouraging coxswain....

Duck Hunters

December 1, 2021

The Hartford portion of the Audubon Christmas bird count is unlike any other in the Connecticut River Watershed....

Autumn

September 1, 2021

Fall is for walking, and among the many attractions in the lower Connecticut River Valley are the numerous and varied trails in the 1,000-acre Preserve, which one can enter from the north via Ingham Hill Road in Essex, where there is public parking....

Deerfield River

September 1, 2021

With a largely undeveloped watershed stretching from the Green Mountains of Vermont to the Berkshire Hills and Pioneer Valley in western Massachusetts, the Deerfield River is one of New England’s most picturesque and historically significant waterways....

Fort River

May 31, 2021

The Fort River Birding and Nature Trail is a well-engineered, universally accessible trail that opened in 2014. It allows visitors of all abilities and ages to experience the diverse habitats and wildlife....

Questing

May 31, 2021

You walk into a dark grove of trees, chanting the rhymes of a poem. You note the bundles of five needles and long cones that mark these as white pines. And then it is on to the next clue, and the next....

Rail Trails

March 1, 2021

Diverse rail trails help preserve the central Connecticut River watershed’s rich railroad heritage. After many of the region’s railways, including the extensive Boston and Maine Railroad network, discontinued during the twentieth century, conservation and community organizations created trails on the abandoned corridors....

Sailing into the Wind

March 1, 2021

Among my favorite memories is when my sailing camp got the whole day to race against each other in different sailboats....

Cold Weather Safety

November 29, 2020

“Maybe better that we die because then we won’t be embarrassed.” So muttered I to my duck hunting partner as the outgoing tide took our eight-foot pram and us, shivering and soaked to the skin, out from the mouth of the Connecticut River towards the grim waves of Long Island Sound on a freezing winter day many years ago....

Turners Falls Area Winter Birding

November 29, 2020

In March 2019, a flock of 20 tundra swans made an unexpected overnight visit to a historic canal at Turners Falls, Massachusetts, one of the Connecticut River watershed’s finest winter birding destinations. The swans, which breed in the Arctic and overwinter on the mid-Atlantic coast and other regions, delighted fortunate observers before departing the next morning....