Quinebaug River Canoe Trail - East Brimfield Lake to Holland Pond - September 18, 2021

A foggy start t the trip

We were looking for something close to home, so we ended up back on the Quinebaug River – this time the section from the East Brimfield Lake to Holland Pond.

The Quinebaug River arises above East Brimfield Lake and flows generally southeast for 60 miles through MA and CT to Norwich where it joins the Willimantic to form the Shetucket. I have paddled several sections of the Quinebaug including this section as a RICKA trip in 2007, Sturbridge to Southbridge, Fabyan to West Thompson,  Putnam to Dayville/Brooklyn and Danielson to Canterbury.

Swamp Maples have turned

East Brimfield Lake was created by the Army Corps of Engineers with the completion of the East Brimfield Dam in 1960. The dam was part of flood control work after the devastating floods of 1955. East Brimfield Lake now includes Long Pond - a natural body of water that was incorporated into the dam's pool as the water rose. Upstream of the dam are over 2,000 acres of flood control land that can be inundated when the reservoir is filled for flood control, including Holland Pond.

Between East Brimfield Lake and Holland Pond the Army Corps of Engineers created the Quinebaug River Canoe Trail – a 3.6-mile section of the Quinebaug River that meanders through forest and marshland. Boat ramps are located on Long Pond, on East Brimfield Lake and at Holland Pond. There are three "rest stops" along the river with benches for a quick rest. There were fire rings at stops 1 and 3, but overnight camping is prohibited.

Eagle at Holland Pond

We met at 8:00 a.m. at the boat ramp on East Brimfield Lake. The river was at a nice level at 3.2 feet, 100 cfs. on the East Brimfield gage - it gets scratchy below 50 cfs. East Brimfield Lake was infested with milfoil – an aquatic weed that makes it difficult to paddle, so we didn’t paddle down to the dam. A sign at the boat ramp said that the milfoil was being treated with a chemical herbicide – we'll see how that works.

It was foggy and misty as we headed out, and the swamp maples along the banks had turned bright red. We took a break at rest stop 1 before continuing up to Holland Pond. The water was too high for us to paddle under the Holland Pond Bridge, but we decided to portage over to Holland Pond anyway. It is a small pond, but we were fortunate to see an eagle high up in a tree. The river was moving nicely as we headed back downstream to the take-out.

Paddling with Bill

Links:

My Picture

My Pictures from 2007 RICKA Trip

Quinebaug River Canoe Trail

East Brimfield Gage

Quinebaug River Paddler's Guide

Holland Pond and the 1955 Flood