It is pleasant to have been to a place the way a river went.
~Henry David Thoreau
I recently “discovered” the Housatonic River by accident and have not been quite the same since. Can’t eat, can’t sleep. WHAT ELSE IS OUT THERE JUST WAITING TO BE DISCOVERED?!? I finally had a pretty good understanding of lower New York and then, BAM!! Connecticut!
New York seems to avoid looking Connecticut in the eye, skirting around her and passing through only when necessary. Do I detect a tinge of competition, an innate rivalry? If yes, the seed was planted long ago, probably by the Housatonic which posed a natural barrier to East-West travel. The CT/NY border was hotly contested until after the Revolution. At issue were significant mineral deposits, high quality iron, the limestone needed to refine it, and several cuts through the Hudson Highlands to the Hudson River valley. Colonial roadways used the shallow fords to cross the river until covered bridges were built in the 19th century. Three of these still stand today at Bull’s Bridge, in West Cornwall and in Sheffield, Massachusetts.
My story begins at Bull’s Bridge. I had come to find an entry point on the Appalachian Trail (AT) for a hike, and left having found the Housatonic River. On this first visit I met an AT through-hiker named Twin (not his real name….AT hikers are given trail names by other hikers…this guy hiked so fast that other hikers thought he must have a twin). He dubbed me a “trail angel,” the only angel status I’ll probably ever achieve, and all I did to deserve it was fetch him water from a pump and give him my lunch. I got my wings just as I heard the noon bells of Kent, bringing me back to the cold truth that I was only a mile from town rather than deep in the wilderness as it seemed.
I did my homework before my next visit and learned that the Housatonic flows 149 miles southward from Pittsfield, MA, to its outfall on the Long Island Sound at Milford Point in Stratford CT. It drops 959 feet in elevation along the way. I’ve only yet dissected the 20-mile section from Kent to Falls Village, but it’s as chockful of surprises as Christmas morn.
On the west bank of this section, the river is home to the Schaghticoke Indian Reservation established in 1736, and the Kent School founded in 1906. The Schaghticoke were a branch of the Mohicans whose word “Us-ia-die-nuk” meaning “river of the mountain place” became “Housatonic.” On the east bank are Kent Falls and Housatonic State Parks boasting waterfalls, hiking, fishing and camping. I’d avoid the crowds on weekends in summer, as the secret it out. There’s another honey hole in Falls River Village, 3 miles up the river from West Cornwall: a 70-foot drop from the dam, built in 1913, for hydroelectricity and recreational use. The river is great to explore on foot.
BULL’S BRIDGE: 684 North to 22 North to 55 East (right) to Dog Trail Corners Road (left) to intersection of Hwy 7 in Kent, CT. Park in the small lot just over the bridge on the right and walk back across. There’s a Canoe Portage Trail to your north, a short walk to the river above the falls. But the best part is south of the road, just below the falls, marked by a trailhead sign with a map. It’s a gorgeous walk on The Homestead Trail, an old Indian trail (blue markers) following the river south. When white AT North markers intersect, stay left on river trail/blue markers to the foot bridge at the confluence of the Housatonic and Ten Mile Rivers, about 1 mile from the trailhead sign at the beginning. There’s a return path marked by white trail markers just right of the bridge taking you back on a loop. If you have time, cross the bridge and follow white AT markers along the Ten Mile River for as long as you have time. There’s an AT shelter you can check out a short walk after you hit the Ten Mile River.
WEST CORNWALL: From Bull’s Bridge, take Hwy 7 north in Kent for 17 miles. There’s a small parking lot just before you cross the covered bridge, or cross bridge and park on the road.
FALLS VILLAGE: From West Cornwall, take Hwy 7 north for about 7 miles. Just after you cross the river and pass the high school, turn left on Beebe Hill to Main (right) to Water Street to Housatonic River Road and follow it to its end at a parking lot at the top of the Falls River Dam. There is a path to the AT, and the stroll along the raging water is gorgeous.
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