Here are but a few examples of the more common items you'll find on Connecticut's beaches:

  

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The colonial founders of the settlement now known as the City of Norwich knew a good thing when they saw it!  Those settlers realized the critical importance of the harbor area, where the Thames, Shetucket, and Yantic Rivers converge.  In 1684, only a few decades after colonial settlement, a public dock was constructed to provision the fledgling settlement, and that dock continues to serve as the center of activity on the harbor today.

City of Norwich leaders fully recognize the importance of the harbor to the City's future. To help the public explore explore the beauty of the harbor and the recreational opportunities it provides in a city hailed as The Rose of New England, the City of Norwich's Harbor Management Commission created the Norwich Harbor Water Trail Guide.  Developed with assistance from the EPA Long Island Sound Study's Long Island Sound Futures Fund, this informative guide offers suggested routes for exploring the Yantic, Shetucket, and Thames Rivers in small paddle craft.  Each route offers a unique recreational experience.  All water trail routes are accessed using the boat launch ramp at Howard T. Brown Park, also known as Chelsea Landing.  Be sure to consult the tide chart for Norwich Harbor to plan your trip to avoid paddling the Yantic and Shetucket Rivers during times of predicted low water.

1. Howard T. Brown Park and boat launch  2. West Branch Yantic River 3. East Branch Yantic River 4. Yantic Falls at Uncas Leap 5. Hollyhock Island 6. Channel connecting East and West Branches Yantic River 7. Marina at American Wharf 8. To Greeneville Dam and fish lift (1.5 miles)

PADDLE THE RIVERS

Kayakers enjoy the view from the base of Uncas Leap in the Yantic River. Photo Credit: Ken Carpenter

Yantic River

The slow flowing brackish water segment of the Yantic River is great place for beginner paddlers. Here the Yantic provides a unique natural-area paddling experience near the center of one Connecticut's oldest cities. Expect to see a variety of water birds including wading birds such as herons, as well as waterfowl and raptors. Paddling upstream, follow the right bank of the East Branch of the Yantic River with Hollyhock Island on your left to the base of Yantic Falls at Uncas Leap--a place of much history and legend and the only major waterfall in Connecticut accessible from a public launch by small boat.  Return by following the East Branch 500 yards downstream before turning right (west) at the northern tip of Hollyhock Island.  Then follow a channel of deeper water to avoid the shallows of a large tidal mudflat on your right.  This channel provides the only deeper water passage to the West Branch of the Yantic River.  Paddle back to Norwich Harbor and Brown Park, keeping the Marina at American Wharf to your left.

Shetucket River

The Shetucket River is one of Connecticut's premier migratory fish corridors whose recreational and cultural significance is recognized by inclusion in the federally designated Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor. Paddlers will likely find anglers along banks of the river up to, and beyond, the head-of-tide at the Greeneville Dam. Here, Norwich Public Utilities' (NPU) fish lift allows migrating salmon, striped bass, and shad to continue upstream past the dam. Paddlers must keep a safe distance from the dam which can be extremely dangerous to boaters. Don't be surprised to see a bald eagle soaring overhead or roosting within the heavily wooded east bank of the river. On the river's west bank, note the stark beauty of the nineteenth century textile mills, vivid reminders of Norwich's industrial heyday. Beware shallow water in the vicinity of NPU's building on the west side of the river one mile from the Brown Park launch. Picking your way through the river's boulders on this section will challenge even the more experienced paddler during times of at low water.

Thames River

The Thames River, an estuarine embayment and Connecticut's third largest river, offers a much different paddling experience than the Yantic and Shetucket. The deep waters of the Thames are shared with motorized vessels, and on windy days choppy waters are better navigated by only the more experienced mariner.  From Brown Park, the intrepid paddler can travel 13 miles--a day-long voyage--to New London Harbor where the river meets Long Island Sound. Shorter but still challenging trips into Trading Cove on the river's west bank, alongside the Mohegan Sun Casino, and  Poquetanuck Cove downstream on the Preston-Ledyard town boundary on the river's east side abound with waterbirds and are excellent destinations for nature enthusiasts. But before leaving Norwich Harbor, be sure to reverse direction for a moment to enjoy a fine view of the historic Norwich Harbor waterfront.

FISH THE HARBOR

Norwich Harbor attracts not only paddling enthusiasts but also anglers from throughout the region, especially during striped bass, shad, and bluefish migrations in the spring and fall. Norwich Harbor is both a gateway and home to many recreationally important gamefish.  Some marine and anadromous (fish that spend most of their life in marine waters and spawn in freshwater before returning to the sea) species are seasonal migrants in search of suitable spawning habitat or feeding areas. Other mainly freshwater species are year-round residents. 

Striped bass

The harbor, with its deep basin and nutrient-rich waters fed by the Shetucket and Yantic rivers, hosts an abundance of invertebrate life and small baitfish, both of which attract large predator fish.  This combination of spawning and feeding grounds, as well as the upper Thames River's highly stratified conditions (warmer freshwater on the surface and cool saltwater in deeper waters) along an ocean migration route create ideal conditions for a variety of species of fish to thrive.

The most popular of these is striped bass, which can be found year-round in the Norwich Harbor area. Large adult bass (up to 50 or more pounds) migrate through the harbor during the spring and fall, feeding on abundant baitfish populations.  A very important recreational winter fishery occurs in the harbor with many juvenile and adult bass overwintering in this productive location.  Striped bass provide excellent fishing from either a boat or shoreside locations in Norwich and surrounding towns along the Thames River that can be identified using the Connecticut Coastal Access Guide. 

Other important gamefish include bluefish (summer/fall), white perch (year-round), sea-run brown trout, American eel, carp, catfish, broodstock Atlantic salmon, and smallmouth bass.

The American Eel is anadromous--the species lives in the Sound but spawns in freshwater Photo Credit: Long Island Sound Resource Center

Anadromous runs of American shad, alewife, and blueback herring provide additional variety for anglers, and demonstrates that this fishery, especially Norwich Harbor, is an area of regional ecological importance.

MANAGING NORWICH HARBOR'S WATER QUALITY

Let's be honest: if the water quality in the Yantic, Shetucket, or Thames Rivers was poor, there is no way anyone would be interested in paddling amongst the beauty of the Falls at Uncas Leap in the Yantic River, or checking out the Greeneville Dam fish elevator in the Shetucket, or fishing for striped bass in the Thames.

The fact is, water quality and water-based recreation like kayaking and paddling are linked for better and for worse.  And thanks to the hard work of officials in Norwich, water quality in the harbor is much better.

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