Dates visited: 7/3/2020 & 10/15/2020

The sections of the Hockanum River Trail in Vernon are the most straight forward sections of the trail. The trails are pretty much continuos, starting with the brand new Pleasantview Marsh Trail, the Dart Hill Trail (North & South) & The Windermere Ave trail which heads into Ellington. Starting with the new Pleasantview Marsh Trail, there is a new trail head and parking lot on Pleasant View Drive. This is a short connector trail that leads to the Dart Hill Trail. It is almost entirely built up on elevated boardwalk, and features new built-in benches and new signage as well. It appears the trail was completed recently. I read a report that they decided not to have a ribbon cutting ceremony for it beacuse of COVID.

Dates visited: 7/3/2020, 7/4/2020, 10/15/2020 & 9/15/2024

The main section of the Hockanum River Trail in Vernon is the Dart Hill Trail. There's a North and South section that run North and South of Dart Hill Road (makes sense!). The Pleasantview Marsh Trail connects to the southern end of the Dart Hill Trail over a foot bridge. From there, it follows a stone dust path up to Hockanum Boulevard. There is a spur trail over the bridge on Hockanum Boulevard that leads to a cul-de-sac on Naek Road (3rd picture below). This is not advertised with any sort of signage, but there are trail blazes. There used to be a trail that continued north on the opposite side of the boulevard, but that does not exist anymore.

After crossing Hockanum Boulevard, there are actually two possible paths. The stone dust path and a path that goes in and out of the woods running close to the river. Both routes lead to Dart Hill Park. We also returned to this park four years later, and you can read about that trip here.

At Dart Hill Park, you can take a path that leads to the park, or continue the trail in an north-easterly direction up to Dart Hill Road. To get to the North Section of the trail, it is necessary to cross the street and walk on the sidewalk over the bridge on Dart Hill Road. There is a parking lot and trail head here, just before the Walgreens. This part of the trail is the most "normal" of the Hockanum River Trails, meaning it's the most woodsy. It's what you think of when you think of a regular trail. There is a side trail that leads to the plaza with Utsav Indian Restaurant and Xpress Pizza. The trail also passes by the pool area of an apartment complex, before going back in to the woods. It finally approaches a water treatment facility on the right (the 3rd such place the Hockanum Trail passes). After that, there is another parking lot and a walking path that leads to the crosswalk over Windsorville Road, where the trail continues as the Windermere Avenue Trail.

Dates visited: 6/22/2020, 7/4/2020 & 5/26/2021

We've come to the absolute coolest part of the Hockanum River Trail, maybe the coolest part of any trail in the state - The David Smith Bridge. Opened in 2017, the David Smith Bridge (not to be confused with Doug Smith Island in Manchester), is a suspension bridge that completes the link, connecting the Dart Hill Trail with the Windermere Ave Trail in Ellington. Most of the trail continues over the border in Ellington, but the bridge itself is in Vernon. It has a real jungle feel to it, and no doubt some will not like the way it sways as you walk over it. I know Mandy doesn't! I think this is the greatest piece of engineering I've seen on a trail, and it's just plain fun to go over! We came back here in May of 2021 with Cookie, and in addition to going over the bridge, we explored the side trails that loop around near the river.

Contunue on to the Ellington section to see the rest of the Windermere Trail, as well as the Franklin Street Trail, which starts in Vernon but is mostly cotained in Ellington.