Hockanum River Trail: Oakland Trail

I started from the large lot at the north end of the trail which has several entrances to the trail.  This stretch of the Hockanum River Trail is immediately tight narrow between the river and the thick growth along its banks.  The trail hugs the bank with many open views of the water.  The noise of I-84 is ever present and this trail would be much nicer without it, but it became background white noise the farther I went.  There are dozens of bridges over muddy areas and small feeder streams.

I progressively pushed a great blue heron downstream as I hiked south, it became a fun game to spot the next area he’d stopped before startling him to fly off again.

Near the south end of this section the trail passes under two on-ramp bridges for the highway before climbing to cross on its own personal bridge just before Route 83.  This part can be used to connect to the Union Pond section of trail.

The return trip was a bit awkward between the river and big businesses like Lynch Motors, Kohl’s, and Key Hyundai but there are also many secluded sections just out of sight of all that commerce.  This side also provides access to Doug Smith Island (formerly Bryan Island, renamed in 2018) for an additional 0.75 miles of trail.

The end of the loop is a short roadwalk along the access road to the business park.