In Hartford, the tide makes its presence known as shad and striped bass run upriver from Long Island Sound. Soon the broad and shallow river is pinched between old, hard hills and becomes narrower and deeper, with forested cliffs replacing muddy banks. Summers are warm, humid, and, in the north, plagued by blackflies, which are generally gone by early July. Excellent hiking trails lace the region from New Hampshire's White Mountains in the east to Vermont's Green Mountains in the west, and plenty of paths follow stretches of the river. May is the least crowded time to visit, fall the most beautiful, and summer brings the most predictable weather.
Winter is long, cold, often snowy, and windy near the coast.
For Deeper Reading The Complete Boating Guide to the Connecticut River edited by Mark C. Borton, et al. In 1991, Congress authorized the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to study the Connecticut River basin to establish a new wildlife refuge. What resulted was a plan unlike any of its predecessors. Planners hope that the Conte refuge will be a lesson in bioregionalism as well as a fine place to paddle a canoe. Sierra Club chapters in New England have been involved at every step of a lengthy public-input process and will monitor the refuge's success.