to I-9 1 5 Arrigoni Bridge No rth EXIT When completed in 1938, the Arrigoni Bridge was the largest and most expensive Str 19 est eet (R oni B W t. 37 AArrrrig bridge in , built at a cost of $3.5 million. Its 600-foot arches are the 2) ROUTE 9 riigonigoni B Bridd ge longest of any bridge in the state. The bridge, named for the state legislator who K Mart Dunkin’ Donuts promoted the project, received the American Institute of Steel Construction’s 1st Prize in the large bridge category in 1938. Launch Site EXIT 15 HHarborarbor et PParkark Stop Stre ton & g M Harbor 6 Harbor Park in Middletown s h in Shop a a Drive W in Canoe/Kayak Trail ) Harbor Park is the site of the former Middletown Yacht Club. Built in 1906, it was for N 6 6 R t. S ( e (R t R O r w deKoven e the first part of this century a destination point for residents gathering for picnics, t U e . f T t 3 i E Drive , e ) 9 M boating and boat races. When using the public dock at Harbor Park, please yield to l d id S d the Wesleyan crew teams departing and arriving at the dock. t l r e e t o e w t n Union Can You Find These Plants Known to the Mattabesset? Street

Trip Logistics: The launch site area is very muddy at low tide, so it is best to begin your trip during high tide. If you plan to take out at Harbor Park, you can leave a car at the city park in the lot adjacent to the restaurant. If you plan to return to the launch site, again, be Silver Maple Wild Rice River Bulrush Sweetflag Arrow-Arum aware of the tides. The trip time from the launch site to Harbor Park is approximately As you leave the launch site you enter a typical floodplain forest dominated by silver 2 hours. maple trees. Continuing downstream the floodplain forest opens up to expose the great tidal marsh area known as Cromwell Meadows. Look for large stands of river Directions to the Launch Site: bulrush (the largest growth in Connecticut), sweetflag, arrow-arum and wild rice. Take Route 9 to exit 19 (Route 372/West Street). Turn west onto West Street and left onto Route 3 at the stoplight right before the Stop & Shop. The launch site is about The Threat of Invasive Plants 1 ⁄4 mile on the left side of road behind the Dunkin’ Donuts. Access is through the Dunkin’ Donuts driveway, or the next driveway on your left (when constructed). Special Concern: Please park in the designated parking spaces. Water Chestnut Directions to Harbor Park: Water chestnut, Take Route 9 to exit 15 (Route 66/Washington Street). Take an immediate left onto 1 Eurasian another deKoven Drive, which parallels Route 9. Travel about ⁄2 mile, and turn left at the Water Purple Milfoil Loosestrife Phragmites aquatic stoplight at Union Street. Go under Route 9, and turn left onto Harbor Drive. Park in plant, is the Harbor Park city lot. Invasive plants, both native and exotic, are also found in not yet this area. They pose a threat because they often replace Produced by: here but is For more information or to get involved with efforts to plant species that provide food sources and habitat for spreading improve the river: native wildlife, thus reducing biological diversity. Look for down the Coastal Conservation District, Inc. the attractive purple flower stalks of purple loosestrife, Connecticut River. This Connecticut River Coastal Conservation District, Inc. and the tall reedy stands of phragmites, which out-com- aggressive plant is a major with support from: pete wetland flora. Also, the aquatic plant Eurasian water concern—please report any deKoven House, 27 Washington Street milfoil is spreading fast in the upper portion of the river— sightings immediately to Middletown, CT 06457 Silvio O. Conte the DEP at 860 / 424-3034. 860 / 346-3282 National Fish and cleaning your boat after each use will help stop this plant. Wildlife Refuge www.conservect.org/ctrivercoastal s e n w o

Safety and Other Reminders: D e c

Mattabesset River Watershed Association n a r r o T . H . • Children 11 years and under are required by State law to wear a personal floata- Box 7174 J Funded by the License Plate Program, tion device (PFD) at all times while on a vessel, although PFD usage is encouraged Berlin, CT 06037 Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection strongly for both children and adults. There must always be one PFD in the vessel for each person. Canoeists/kayakers must wear their PFD during cold weather Town of Cromwell, months from October through May. Connecticut • Be aware that the river and associated wetlands are used by waterfowl hunters Cover Art: J. H. Torrance Downes Wildlife Art: Paul J. Fusco from mid-October through December. Trail Map: Catherine Johnson Middlesex County Illustrations—Wild Rice, River Bulrush, and Community • When traveling on the Connecticut River, watch out for large boat traffic, strong Foundation Phragmites: Lauren Brown currents and tides. Illustration—Water Chestnut: Aquatic Plants of New • Please be mindful that the canoe/kayak trail area is home to several species of England Series: Trapa natans, Crow and Thanks also to present owner Paul 24 Shunpike Road Hellquist 1983. Illustration by Pam Bruns Furtado, Mattabesset Realty LLC, endangered or threatened birds. To minimize disturbance to nesting and foraging and past owners, the Cusanos, for Illustration—Eurasian Water Milfoil: Annie Chappel granting access to the launch site. birds, small creeks and marsh edges should be avoided. June 2007 Graphic Artist: Pat Rasch Cromwell, Connecticut acquired from the Native Americans were replaced by farms, The Mattabesset River manufacturing mills, foundries, sawmills and quarrying operations. From its headwaters in the Hanging Hills of Meriden, the Mattabesset River Canoe/Kayak Trail Streams were dammed to supply water for milling and manufactur- Mattabesset River flows approximately 18 miles as it makes its way ing, and forests were cleared for lumber and agriculture. to the Connecticut River just north of the Arrigoni Bridge at the Belted kingfishers call The launch is located at the site of the former “Sawmill Pub,” Middletown/Cromwell line. The Mattabesset’s largest tributary, loudly as they fly across the river. named for an old sawmill that used water from the Mattabesset the , meets the Mattabesset about one mile River to run its mill. The pub is now gone, and plans are to build a before it enters the Connecticut River. Areas of Berlin, Cromwell, to I-91 new commercial building in its place. We are grateful to past and Guilford, Durham, Meriden, Middlefield, Middletown, New Britain, Great blue herons stalk North present owners, who have granted permission for ongoing access Red-tailed hawks build prey in the shallows. We large stick nests along st Str Newington, Plainville, Rocky Hill and Southington are within the eet through agreements with the Town of Cromwell. the Mattabesset. (Rt. Mattabesset watershed, which encompasses approximately 110 square miles. 37 EXIT 19 2)

Beginning about 10,000 years ago, as the last glacial ice retreated from New

) 2 Cromwell Meadows

England, Native American populations settled Connecticut and the areas along the 9 9

Launch Site

. Cromwell Meadows, also known as Round and Boggy Meadows, is a large freshwater

Mattabesset and Coginchaug rivers. The Mattabeseck and Wangunk tribes inhabited t

R (

tidal wetland located at the confluence of the Coginchaug and Mattabesset rivers. It l

this area, and were nicknamed the “River Indians” due to their reliance on the rivers l 1 e is one of 20 significant wetlands within the internationally recognized

for subsistence. w

m Connecticut River Estuary and Tidal River Wetlands Complex, and a

Once Europeans began to settle Connecticut, land use along the Mattabesset River o r

C key conservation area of The Nature Conservancy in the lower

changed. Agriculture was the dominant land use through the Revolutionary War era.

, Connecticut River, one of the 40 “last great places in the Western

However, the availability of more fertile lands farther west led to the mass abandon- t R CROMWELL e Watch for

e Hemisphere.” A significant portion of the meadows is owned by ment of farms and great migration of farmers during the 1800s. Those who stayed O r ospreys

U t S

the State of Connecticut as a wildlife management area. worked in the many factories springing up along the rivers and streams, and manu- TE fishing n 9 i and nesting on the

a Due to its rare species, fisheries, wetlands, water birds and facturing became a major economic force. platforms in Cromwell M unusual habitat, Cromwell Meadows is designated a high priority Meadows, erected by the The change in land use practices over Special Concern: Turbidity N Mattabesset River Watershed e Special Focus Area within the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and the past century from farming to business w Association in 1998. A fairly common notion among local resi- f i Wildlife Refuge. The large wetland area provides habitat for and industry took a toll on the Mattabesset e l dents is that the Mattabesset River is a d Round Meadow r migrating wood ducks, black ducks, teal, and nesting wood ducks. It hosts several River. Industrial wastes and raw sewage S naturally “muddy” river due to the ero- t e re species of fish-eating birds including great blue heron, green-backed heron, osprey, from the growing population contributed sive characteristics of soils in the e v t i belted kingfisher, ring-billed gull and the double crested cormorant. Many species of ( to a severe decline of water quality and loss watershed. It is true that during rain- R 2 R t . wetland and marsh birds can be seen in the Mattabesset, including marsh wren, of aquatic life in the river. storms the Mattabesset often becomes 3 t ) Cromwell Meadows Water quality in the Mattabesset River turbid, or clouded with suspended sedi- u common yellow-throat, red-winged blackbird, and swamp sparrow. State Wildlife Area c has improved dramatically since 1968, when ment that colors the river reddish-brown. i Cromwell Meadows is also an important nursery for anadromous fish t species (fish that migrate from the ocean to freshwater or tidal the establishment of the Mattabassett However, turbidity measurements indicate c Sewer District curbed the discharge of raw that the Mattabesset is not naturally tur- e streams to spawn), including alewife, blueback herring, American bid. Rather, peaks in turbidity are a result n shad, and sea lamprey. These fish species depend on the sewage into the river. However, ongoing Boggy Meadow n of erosion from unnaturally exposed o Blueback Mattabesset for reproduction, and travel upstream from the water quality monitoring shows that the Mattabesset herring migrate areas of soil following heavy rains. C Connecticut River as far as StanChem Pond in East Berlin—the first Mattabesset and its tributaries still experi- River D from the Atlantic Ocean into High turbidity is dangerous to fish. It N the Meadows in late spring. obstacle to fish migration on the River. ence degradation due to nonpoint source A reduces sunlight penetration in the L 3 T pollution, or polluted runoff. Sources of water, impairing sight-feeding fish, and R polluted runoff include rainwater running O 3 clogs fish gills, eventually leading to suf- x Coginchaug River o P d c l n i a over driveways, roads, construction sites, l focation. When the sediment W s I A large stand of wild rice lies at the mouth of the Coginchaug River where it t e agricultural fields and lawns carrying with settles out of the water e tr meets the Mattabesset. In late summer and early fall the wild rice is thick with S onto the riverbed, in it a variety of pollutants, as well as failing MIDDL ETOW N 4 a red-winged blackbirds feeding on the nutritious grains. The Coginchaug River, a M septic systems and leaking sewer pipes. it can smother the north flowing river, begins in North Guilford and flows a distance of 15 miles eggs and larvae of Currently, many people are working to through the towns of Durham, Middlefield and Middletown. aquatic organisms. The Mattabesset is an important 5 improve the Mattabesset River. In 2000 a nursery for American shad. Coginchaug idg e At one time the Coginchaug watershed was considered to have the most rrig oni B r group of watershed stakeholders adopted River A prolific trout streams in the lower Connecticut River Valley. Today a plan to restore the river to fishable and swimmable conditions, which is now being degraded water quality and obstructions from dams and culverts implemented. The Connecticut River Watch Program conducts ongoing water quality EXIT have reduced the trout population significantly, although the monitoring activities with the help of citizen volunteers, and the Mattabesset River 15 Department of Environmental Protection stocks the river with Muskrat travel on the river Wild rice is a tall grass Watershed Association works as an advocate for the river. and eat bark off branches 6 adult brook, brown and rainbow trout. with large edible seeds. along the banks. Harbor eet Park 1 Cromwell and the Launch Site n Str ing to 4 Connecticut River and Wilcox Island ash M W a The Town of Cromwell was originally part of a much larger settlement of the 6 6 ) in t. S Wilcox Island stands before you as you enter the Connecticut River. Although today the (R t re Mattabeseck Indians. After several bloody encounters with the early European N e t, island is used only by the occasional boater or fisherman, during the 18th and 19th

M settlers, the great Indian chief Sowheag surrendered all the lands along the id d centuries it was an active park, with a footbridge from Middletown affording easy le to Mattabesset River to the settlers. A European settlement called w access. In June of 1880 the Middletown Press Mattabeseck was established in 1651, incorporating the present towns n Green-backed herons CT River Statistics advertised a Sunday prize fight between a resi- of Middletown, Cromwell, Middlefield, Portland, East Hampton, and a are shy birds dent of Portland and a bruiser from Waterbury, 410 miles long portion of Berlin. that call “ke-owk” while at the other end of the island residents as they bolt from the shoreline. 11,260 square mile watershed By the late 1700s Cromwell had become a self-sufficient Colonial vil- could enjoy a picnic and dance to music furnished lage with a bustling riverport. During the 1800s the thick virgin 0 1/2 1mile 70% of freshwater input to White-breasted nuthatches Long Island Sound by a “wheezey accordion.” hunt insects on tree trunks. forests, natural meadows, and swamplands the early settlers Continued on back