Hop River State Park Trail

Bolton to Windham - 12 miles - gravel - open to public use - paving proposed
Note Hop River Bridge is missing 

Vernon - 9.1 miles - stone dust -  open to public use

Historic Railroad Mileage Chart

Open sections:

• Bolton Notch in Bolton to Kings & Flanders Road in Coventry
• Hop River Road in Columbia towards Windham
• in Vernon

Maps

A map of the currently open trail in Manchester, Vernon & Bolton through Valley Falls State Park is on the East Coast Greenway Web Site.

A map of the Hop River Trail is available on pages 4 & 7 of Appendix A of the Connecticut Statewide Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Plan posted on the Bike-ped Web Page of   CT-DOT. Other information suggests that the trail is also passable (for mountain bikes?) between Bolton Notch and the east end of the Vernon Section. 

East Coast Greenway

The Willimantic to Bolton section of this Rail-trail will be part of the East Coast Greenway, a multi-use trail that is planned from Maine to Florida. The East Coast Greenway has recently been selected as one of 15 trails for designation as a Millenium Trail, which should be very helpful in focusing public attention on all of the component trail projects.

Status Report to ECGA (2001 State of the Trail Report)

• 9. Hop River Trail
• Endpoints: Willimantic to Bolton
• Miles: 13
• Landscape rural
• Jurisdiction: CT DEP
• Status: designated (class B)
• Condition: mountain bikeable, some bridges out
• Next step: redeck bridges, upgrade surface
• Funding allocated: n/a
• Contact: Leslie Lewis. Coordinator CT Greenways Commission 860-424-3578

Relevant books

A 19 mile section of the Trail from Vernon (Church St) to Willimantic (Flanders Rd) is described in Section 3 of  the Official Rails-to-Trails Conservancy New England Guidebook by Cynthia Mascott published in 2000 by Globe Pequot Press. This trail listing contains a photograph, historical description, trail head directions and parking, a trail map, trail details, a local trail manager contact, and much more. Note that the 3.5 mile section of the Rockville Spur Trail running north from Vernon (Church St) into Rockville is also described in Section 5 of this book!

A 18.8 mile section of the trail between Vernon and Willimantic is described in Great Rail Trails of the Northeast by Craig Della Penna. The information includes a historical background of the trail as well as a detailed description keyed to bicycle odometer readings from the author's in person trip down the trail. This book is out-of-print, but many bookstores still have copies for sale.

Newspaper Articles

• Charter Oak Greenway To Provide Missing Link (Jul 12 2001 - Courant)
• Group Needs More Gallons Of Paint To Remove Graffiti Along Trail (May 24 2001 - Courant)
• Tunnel added to historic structure list  (Sep, 21 2000 - Journal Inquirer)

Public Transit to the Trail

Bonanza Bus (Hartford-Providence) stops in Willimantic at Bev's News Stand, 790 Main St. on a daily basis. 

Windham Region Transit District

• Weekday city bus service Storrs-Willimantic with Saturday service when University is in session. (Bike racks on all busses!)
• Weekday  & Saturday city bus service within Willimantic. (Bike racks on some busses!)
• Daily commuter bus service along Route 32 between Willimantic, Norwich, and Foxwoods Resort that connects at Norwalk to South East Area Transit (SEAT) service to the Amtrak and Shore Line East train station at New London.  

Arrow Line

• Weekday rush direction commuter bus service from Willimantic and Coventry (and intermediate points) to Hartford.
  • Willimantic Center (3 stops)
  • Columbia Commuter Lot (Route 6 & 66)
  • Andover Commuter Lot (Route 6)
  • Bolton Commuter Lot (Route 44)
  • Apparently stops on signal on Route 6 between Columbia and Bolton Commuter Lots

Collins Bus Service

Commuter bus service to Hartford from Vernon. (Weekday rush direction only) 

CT Transit - Hartford City Bus Service in Vernon & Manchester:

• Routes Z1 & Z2 (Tolland Tpk-Rockville) all day on Weekdays & Saturdays
  • Near the Taylor St Crossing in Vernon on Tolland Turnpike 
  • Near the Washington St Crossing in Vernon at the Stop & Shop (across I-84)
  • About 0.7 mile west of Colonial St Crossing  at  Oakland & Sheldon
• Routes B1 & B2 (Silver Lane - Manch Ind Pk) all day weekdays & Sat rush hours
  • At or near the Colonial St Crossing in Manchester 
• Route B (Silver Lane) all day Weekdays & Saturdays
  • At Depot Square in Manchester (1.0 mile west of Colonial St Crossing)
• Route Z (Tolland Tpk) on Sundays
  • At Depot Square in Manchester (1.0 mile west of Colonial St Crossing)

Railroad Abandonment Summary

Brief History of the Railroad

A brief history of the Hartford, Providence & Fishkill RR is published as Article #10 in The Rail Lines of Southern New England by Ronald Dale Karr, published by Branch Line Press in 1995.