Dates visited: 5/27/2020, 7/30/2020, 8/1/2020, 12/28/2020, 3/3/2021 & 5/25/2021

The Hockanum River Linear Park consists of a number of trails that follow the Hockanum River through East Hartford, Manchester, Vernon and Ellington. They are not all connected, but they are all very interesting. The Manchester series of trails are my favorite. I lived in Manchester between 1995 & 2002, and visited the trails often. My favorite is the Laurel Marsh Trail. It encompasses everything that is great about the Hockanum River Trails.

(The Laurel Marsh Trail Head and Hockanum River in 1999)

The Laurel Marsh Trail is a 3 1/2 mile loop trail around the Laurel Marsh. The Laurel Marsh years ago, was Laurel Lake. The lake was created when the river was dammed nearby in East Hartford for the mills. When the dam was removed, the lake disappeared and became a marsh. According to the Manchester Historical Society, there used to be a park at Laurel Lake with a picnic area, bandstand and even a zoo. The Stone Dust Loop and Verplank trail are accessed from the Laurel Marsh Trail. The Stone Dust Loop is a short, three quarter of a mile, flat, stone dust loop trail. Think of it as the inner loop, where the rest of the Laurel Marsh Trail is the outer loop. The Verplank trail is a spur that heads to the east, out to Verplank school. The two photos below are from the Stone Dust Loop.

The longer loop is the one I enjoy the most. It has a wide variety of different types of terrains and views, from wooded areas to marsh lands, to more open areas. A protion of this trail incorporates the paved Captain John Bissell Greenway to cross the river. The other river crossing is on a large trail bridge. There is a large section that runs on elevated boardwalk, similar to the East Hartford sections. I brought Mandy and Lexi here for the first time in 2018, but I was disappointed as the boardwalk section of the trail was closed due to damage, and it was not possible to hike the entire loop. At some point within the last two years, the trail has been re-routed away from the damage, and the loop is complete once again. You can see the old boardwalk in the pictures below, the part that is still is in tact, and the part that is no longer passable. You can also see the doe who was enjoying cooling off in the Hockanum on that warm day.

Our friend Cookie even went with us one time.

As mentioned before, the Verplank trail is a spur that veers off to the east. It passes near a water treatment facility (one of three on the Hockanum Trail), and fair warning...it does smell a little in the summer time. You can see in the second picture below, the oddly placed ench off to the right that overlooks the water treatment facility.

Another thing I love about the Hockanum River Trails, is the attention to detail. There are so many great little boardwalks and walk ways over muddy spots and little stream crossings. I can't take these for granted, because these kinds of things aren't present on most of the trails we hike. That being said, sometimes the placement of some of these on the Hockanum Trails leaves me a little puzzled (see below).

Dates visited: 7/26/2020, 8/2/2020, 8/5/2020 & 8/1/2021

The next section of trail, the New State Road Trail is actually across the street from the Laurel Marsh Trail. There's a new trail head that can be accessed from the Cheney Tech parking lot. There's a loop trail that also goes out to New State Road (hence the name). There is a section that goes through a wild flower garden, and also a section that ventures over a bridge onto "Daffodil Island". Unfortunately, it was not daffodil season when we visited. It also features a section that is built up on the side of the river and is a little bit tough to navigate.

The Hackett Trail can be accessed from a side trail off the New State Road Loop and by crossing New State Road. It's a short loop trail, about a mile in total, near the baseball field.

Also accross the street from the New State Road side trail, and down the sidewalk a bit is the Hilliard Trail (at the intersection of Hilliard Street). This is more of a picnic area than a trail. The trail is only a tenth of a mile. There are plans to incorporate this section, along with the Purdy Nature Trail, into a new segment that follows Bigelow Brook. It would run behind the Manchester Parkade and connect to Center Springs Park. I don't know if the plan will ever come to fruition.

Dates visited: 7/24/2020 & 5/12/2021

The Adam's Mill Restaurant was a staple in the town of Manchester for years. The restaruant has folded, and it is now Elicit Brewery. The trail starts behind the restaurant. You can walk a loop here, but you will come out down the road a bit next to the car dealership and have to walk the last segment on the sidewalk. The river crossing is actually over an old railroad bridge, and is technically closed to pedestrians. There really is no legitimate way to walk the loop unless you are a rule breaker! The bridge is a steel grate bridge. Mandy absolutely hates those, so we didn't actually cross the first time we visited. The second time we visited, I carried her over the bridge! Once on the other side of the bridge, there didn't seem to be an easy way back down the hill to the trail. We had to climb down a real steep hill. That was a real adventure with the dogs. Somehow we managed to get down in one piece! There's a side trail behind the restaurant, along a levee that leads to ruins of an old mill that were interesting to explore. Like the New State Road Trail, there is also a section on the side of a cliff that is a little tough to navigate.

(Mandy: "You got to be kidding me! There is no way I'm going over that bridge!)

There are still more sections of the Hockanum River Trail in Manchester. Go to Part 2 now.