Hi guys,
I’m looking to do a three day trip on the Farmington river. My wife and I did a few days on the CT river last year with our Canoe and it was just a little too mellow for us. We have been doing some class 1 stuff locally, but we chose the Farmington for its variety of rapids, so if we feel up to it we can hit some bigger stuff.
My problem is I’m having trouble finding info on doing longer stretches of the river. There’s some stuff out there about short day trip sections, but nothing on multi day trips.
Basically we’d be looking to do 10-15 miles a day. I guess what we’re looking for is advice on which section to do. We’d be wild camping on the river, so we don’t want to wind up in a downtown type area at the end of the day.
Just curious of anyone has more info, or has done something like this on the Farmington. I’m especially having a hard time finding maps! There are large scale maps, but I cant find anything online more detailed about the river. I was thinking I might be able to find something similar to the guides you can buy for the CT river. I have been looking at massachusettspaddler.com, but its not quite providing what I’m looking for
I’ve never heard of anyone doing multi-day trips on the Farmington. Like most New England rivers, the Farmington runs through populated areas, has lots of dams (not sure if they can be portaged), and has no paddle-in campsites that I am aware of. If you are interested in paddling the whitewater sections, they are in New Boston, MA (Upper, Gorge, Lower) , Riverton, CT (Goodwin, Riverton, Satan’s Kingdom) , Unionville, CT (Crystal) , Tariffville, CT (Tville). You would need to catch it at the right level, and there are some class III rapids is there. I know it is a wild and scenic river, but the section from Goodwin Dam down to Tville, the section with most of the moving water, is far from wilderness. Personally, not something I would try. My suggestion would be to base camp at American Legion State Forest on the Riverton section and do day-trips from there – best of both worlds. There are section descriptions for the river here:
Are you talking about the upper Connecticut River. While you can’t beat the upper Connecticut for access to campsites, it can get a little boring unless you like flatwater and cornfields. One section that had some moving water and more of a wilderness feel is Canaan to Bloomfield. You need to catch it at the right level, but there is some quickwater/class I above and below Lyman Falls.
Something to think about.
Good luck - if you figure out a way to overnight on the Farmington let me know.
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