Now, this was fun.
We have had this little adventure on our list since last Summer. Finally we got up to New Hartford, Connecticut for some canoeing down the Farmington River.
There are a bunch of places you can canoe, kayak, or tube on the Farmington River, but since we really have zero experience with canoeing or the river itself, we figured it would be a good idea to not get fancy and just stick to a rather simple trip, departing from the “half way point,” and ending up back at the place we rented the canoe from – Main Stream Canoes and Kayaks.
Main Stream makes it really easy for you. You show up, pay them $55, hop in the van and get dropped off six miles North with two life vests, two paddles and one canoe. Slide the boat in the water and off you go. The full trip is twelve miles, but since the six mile trip was supposed to last 3-4 hours, we felt that this was the one to take. It ends up that it only took us an hour because we were paddling, but I think if you just sat there and didn’t do anything, it would take the full time.
The lower section of the upper Farmington River (the one we went on) had class one and two rapids. I don’t know what that means, but there were a few points that we found pretty interesting. Looking back, those were the fun parts. Laura sat in the front and I sat in the back, so she got most of the action. I actually ate half of my Subway sandwich while she was trying to keep her cool. Of course, I ate during the serene parts and I kept offering to hand up her salad, but nooo, she had to keep a look-out for rocks. she did a splendid job of navigating.
I took lots of pictures, but had to keep stuffing the camera back in my bag whenever the water got faster, thus not many pictures of rapids. I think I got one of some faster flowing water though. I also had to keep the boat steady because I didn’t want to tip over. If we did, then my bag would get all wet and our food would get ruined. We couldn’t have that happen.
The next time we go up there, we are going to try to get some other people to go with us. We are going to do the full twelve miles (there are more rapids on the upper half) and we aren’t going to bring anything with us. All I will have is my cell phone in a zip-lock bag.
Here are some pictures I took of the trip. Of course, I forgot to get any of the actual canoe or the place we rented it from. I hope you enjoy these though.
Jim C.
Great post. Thanks for the pics. I live in New Britain, which is just south of Hartford, yet I’ve never kayaked down the Farmington River. Shame. You said that you rented a canoe. Do you know if there are kayak rentals too? Since I don’t know the quality of the river (depth, etc…), I’d rather use a kayak rental the first time. I’m sure theirs are all scratched up. If I were to rent from Main Stream, I’d likely launch from wherever the van drops me off. But if, in the future, I use my own kayak, I wonder where other good launch sites would be. A Farmington River map would help tremendously. Any advice would be appreciated.
Jay Gaulard
Hi Jim! I just poked around Main Stream’s website and I saw that they do indeed rent kayaks, so you’re in luck. I understand why you’d want to use theirs instead of yours the first time around. Also, I’d have to look around to see if there are good launch sites. I’m guessing a nice boat launch would work just as well? I think parking would be the primary issue. Also, you’d need to find a friend to drive you back up to your car after you’ve paddled downstream. And now that I think about it, I wonder if there’s a picnic area you could park at that would do the trick. And just so you know, I remember hearing whispers about tubing down the Farmington River. I am not sure if there are tube rentals, but there are some decent rapids further down from the Main Stream rental office. People could tube and kayak down those rapids.