Scantic River State Park: Powder Hollow Area (Blog Hike #962)

Trail: (unnamed)
Hike Location: Scantic River State Park, Powder Hollow Area
Geographic Location: east of Enfield, CT (41.98167, -72.53981)
Length: 1.4 miles
Difficulty: 1/10 (Easy)
Date Hiked: September 2023
Overview: An out-and-back along the scenic Scantic River with interesting human history.
Park Information: https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/State-Parks/Locate-Park-Forest/Other-State-Parks-and-Forests#ScanticRiver
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=946937
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video:

Directions to the trailhead: In northern Connecticut, take I-91 to SR 190 (exit 47E).  Exit and go east on SR 190.  Drive SR 190 east 2.5 miles to SR 192/Maple Street and turn right on Maple St.  Drive Maple St. south 0.3 miles to an all-way stop just after crossing the Scantic River.  Turn left to park in the park's small riverside parking lot.

The hike: Draining much of north-central Connecticut and south-central Massachusetts, the Scantic River flows for 40.6 miles on a northeast to southwest course.  The river forms near the town of Hampden, Massachusetts at the confluence of several streams, and it empties its waters into the Connecticut River near South Windsor, Connecticut.  The river alternates between slow pools and rushing rapids throughout its course, and several old industrial sites exist along its banks.

            Established in 1967, Connecticut's Scantic River State Park consists of several disconnected land parcels along its namesake river.  Currently the park protects 784 acres, but future plans call for additional land acquisitions to bring the total to over 2200 acres.  The park has no lodging facilities, but several of the park's areas offer extensive systems of hiking trails for day-users.  While many hiking options are available, I came here near the beginning of a long drive, so I needed to keep my hike short but scenic.  The 1.4 mile out-and-back along the Scantic River described here fits that bill, and I ended up having an excellent hike on that Saturday morning.

Trailhead at Powder Hollow parking area

            Start by walking around the yellow vehicle gate at the rear of the parking lot and heading east past the information kiosk.  A rough trail leads directly down to the Scantic River rapids on the left, but continuing east a short distance reveals a more gradual way down to the rapids.  Despite the fact that these rapids are only about 6 feet high, the river supplies plenty of water to make them a very scenic site.  A low wall of concrete blocks suggests that some structure used to exist here, but I could not find any historical information about this structure.  These rapids are the largest cascades in this river, so take some time to enjoy the whitewater.

Concrete blocks at rapids

Scantic River rapids

            The wide dirt trail continues upstream with the river close on the left.  Some large pine trees grow in this part of the forest, and lots of honeysuckle pervades the understory.  Some smaller rapids appear in the river, and they are interesting if not as dramatic as the ones you passed near the trailhead.

Hiking along the Scantic River

            At 0.4 miles, you pass a small oxbow lake on the left as you round one of the river's broad curves.  Just past 0.5 miles, a 3-foot ledge waterfall appears in the river just before you pass large stacks of stones.  These stones appear to be abutments from an old river bridge.  Next you pass an old mill raceway on the right.  These old structures add interesting human history to the river's natural scenery.

Small river waterfall

Old raceway

            0.7 miles into the hike, you reach the upper end of the old mill raceway.  If you wanted to form a loop, the trail going right here leads uphill to the blufftop before returning back down to the trailhead.  Another trail leads further upstream along the river, but it was very muddy on my visit.  Thus, I chose to turn around here and retrace my steps downstream along the river to return to the trailhead and finish my hike.  This option allowed me to see each of the river cascades and historic sites one more time but coming from the opposite direction.