River Valley

The River Valley covers central Connecticut along the Connecticut River, the broad agricultural-and-urban valley running through Hartford and south to Long Island Sound. The terrain is gently rolling — sandstone bedrock, tobacco shade fields north of Hartford, and a string of historic river towns from Old Saybrook north through Middletown — with the trap-rock ridges of Talcott and Hanging Hills rising west of the river. Hartford, Middlesex, and Tolland counties cover the region. Hartford itself anchors the urban core, with West Hartford, East Hartford, Manchester, and New Britain forming the metro ring. Anchor towns south of Hartford include Middletown, Essex, Old Saybrook, Old Lyme, and East Haddam; Storrs (UConn) and Tolland fill the rural counties. The Mark Twain House, the Wadsworth Atheneum, and the Connecticut State Capitol cluster in Hartford; Gillette Castle State Park and the Goodspeed Opera House sit at East Haddam. Most trips center on Hartford and the river. Hartford handles the museum-and-history itinerary; the river towns run the steam-train-and-riverboat at Essex and the antique-and-restaurant scene; UConn’s Storrs campus draws basketball traffic in winter. Foliage along the river runs strong through mid-October.