Poling the Farmington River, CT?

[Tsuga8]

This summer I poled a section of the Housatonic down to Housatonic Meadows - fun! The Housatonic is too low right now but I see that the Farmington is still supposedly runnable at the moment according to the gauges. Wondering if anyone (looking at you, @eckilson ) can recommend sections of the Farmington to pole this time of year? I'm still learning to handle moving water but looking to grow.

 

[Robin]

In Riverton, Ct there is a nice parking lot where Hogback Rd and rt 20 meet, I have poled there. Just south of Hogback Rd on rt 20 about a mile or so is a bridge where rt 20 crosses over the Farmington. There is a parking lot/put in on the west side of the river at the bridge, decent poling area there.
If you follow East River Rd south on the east side of the river there are some parking lots with access to the river.
West River road also offers some better views of the river with parking spots and access.
Further south, at rt 318 just east of the river there is a parking lot on 318 with a dirt rd that follows the river for a ways downstream, possible put ins there.

 

[eckilson]

Yup - the Riverton section of the Farmington is a great for poling, but I haven’t been there in quite a while. We would do downstream runs from the Goodwin Dam off Hogback Road to the parking lot at the Satan’s Kingdom State Recreation Area – about 10 miles. You can break it up into smaller sections and do up-an-back runs.

It’s pretty low at the moment - 219 cfs from the Godwin Dam and 17 cfs from the Still River. Lowest I have run it is around 335 cfs. For what it’s worth, some write-ups of Riverton runs (paddling and poling) with links to pictures here:

Open Boat, Moving Water - A Paddler's Journal

Canoe trips, pictures and videos from Rhode Island and the rest of New England

eckilson.blogspot.com

 

[Tsuga8]

Great info, thanks for sharing Robin and Eckilson! And I do always enjoy the photo posts on your blog as well Eckilson. If the water comes up and I can find a free weekend this fall, I'll try to get out there.