Heron Cove
35 acres in Tolland, CT
Parking: Large lot at 125 South River Road, Tolland, CT
Trail Map Trails: Less than a mile Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Heron Cove is located along the Willimantic River and offers boating access including a launch built by Boy Scouts in 1999. There is a hiking trail along the river (the town site still lists it as “under construction”). I stopped after visiting a couple other Tolland parks not knowing what I would find.
After poking around the boat launch (a nice wooden platform at a bend in the river) off the back corner parking area I noticed what looked like a path heading off at the corner of the lot. Sure enough a trail lead off into the woods blazed in blue at first along the high bank and then descending down to follow the water’s edge. There are a number of obvious fishing spots and some trees have been wrapped to protect from what much be active beavers.
At around 0.3 miles the official trail turns away from the river back towards the parking area though an unblazed trail continues along the river. The official trail soon connects to an overflow parking area and up to the sports fields to complete the loop at just over 0.5 miles.
The property is north of the current end of the Willimantic River Trail, but we can hope it may one day connect.
History:
Established as a park in 1993, Heron Cove is the site of a former sand and gravel pit.
Links:
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Last updated July 8th, 2019
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