Date visited: 10/2/2021

I was getting tired of the crazy Connecticut traffic, so I decided to head up to Western Massachusetts, only to encounter worse traffic because of The Big E. It was worth it, because this place is pretty nice. The highlight was the waterfall. We started out with the easy loop trail, but expanded it a bit to go all the way around the reservoir. This place is very dog friendly as well. Many of these reservoir type places don't allow dogs, but this one does. This was a fun hike.

Date visited: 10/21/2026

Somehow, it took me six and a half years of adventures to discover this bike trail, which is only about a half hour from home. The trail starts at Thomas Lagodich Park and runs north between a flood-control dike and the Connecticut River. The dike separates the trail from the retail outlets along Riverdale Avenue. Although the trail follows the river, views of the water are quite limited due to a strip of woods in between. There are side trails that appear to lead to the river, but we heeded the "Stay on the trail" signs. The trail runs for about a mile and a half, ending at Ashley Avenue and passing underneath I-91 along the way. Near the northern end is an observation deck, one of the few spots where you can actually see the river. Paved paths lead from the main trail to the top of the dike, so we walked along the dike on the way back to change things up. Even from up there, we couldn't really see the river, but we did get a great view of the Costco gas station! Mandy and Lexi had fun running down the hill as we got closer to the start of the trail. Before calling it a day, we headed down to the Thomas Lagodich Park boat launch and took a photo by the river. We wound up walking just shy of four miles. Overall, it was an okay walk, but calling it the "Connecticut River Walk & Bikeway" is a bit misleading when there are so few views of the river.

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