Posted By auntie on June 11, 2017

7.5 miles; Bolton, Vernon, and Rockville, CT

First it’s too cold, and today it was too damned hot; high 80’s. Not fun. Also I think I’ve about had it with Rails-to-Trails for a while. Also not fun? About 2,000 cyclists and 1,000 joggers coming up from behind. This is an EXTREMELY popular trail. The ravine was pretty cool, though. We didn’t brave the chancy section, but it was still pretty nice.

Yeah, No

My friend Stacy and I started out on the Hop River Trail, a Rails-to-Trails State Park in Vernon, but fairly quickly detoured off to visit a ravine I’d read about on Connecticut Museum Quest. I know, right? For once it’s not a Peter Marteka-inspired hike!

Some more about the Talcott Ravine from a website about the Tankerhoosan River:

The area is a largely forested, scenic area bisected by the Tankerhoosan River. The site encompasses a geologically significant gorge with steeply sloped rock outcroppings as well as the remains of early 19th century textile mills. The rock outcroppings form the gorge area about 30-50 feet deep. The masonry dam is 26 feet high with a length of 84 feet and was originally built in 1900.

We thought about crossing that skinny little rock ledge to get an up-close view of the falls, but changed our minds when poor Stacy’s dog tried it and missed. And the dog had 4 feet to grab with, not just two. Don’t worry, Gillian was easily rescued.

After a distant view of the falls from the upper trail, we did a short road-walk back to the Hop River Trail, and our second destination, the Bolton Notch.

Train Artifact

The Hop River Trail has a lot of old remnants of the railroad that used to run through here, including this cool hand switch. The old rails are still visible in a lot of places, too.

Ragged Robin and a Spider

I saw this charming little wildflower beside the trail, but didn’t find out till later that it’s not a native, and is in fact considered invasive in some states.

The Trail During a Lull in the Traffic

As I said, this trail was very, very popular, especially on this bright and warm Sunday.

TSTLC Hike Shot #5: Bolton Notch

And of course we got our “2017 Sky’s the Limit Challenge” photos. This is #5 for us.

Track (click for details)

You can find out more about the Hop River Trail and Bolton Notch State Park from the pages of the DEEP website. And as always, click on the image, above, for details about this hike and to download the GPS track.

Categories: Connecticut, Walks and Hikes
Tags: 7–10 miles, Bolton CT, CT, Rockville CT, Vernon CT