3. Tariffville Park (Simsbury) to Highway 187 (Tariffville Gorge) Recreational

Tville (as it's called by locals) contains some of the most popular and consistent whitewater in Connecticut. You can either run the river or park and play. Most boaters choose to park and play. To park and play, park at the end of Tunxis Ave. on the East Granby side, and walk down the dirt trail to the river. From here you can access the majority of the play features Tville has to offer, and still walk back up to your car when you're done. Most boaters that run the river put in at Tariffville Park and takeout either at Tunxis Ave. (which avoids the slightly tougher sections of the gorge) or takeout after the former location of the broken dam. Most evenings in the summer a solid crowd of friendly and inviting paddlers can be found throwing down in Tville's great play holes. Boaters from all over the area come here because there's consistent flows, year round, that provide a variety of options for play and river running. Stop by and check it out, you won't be let down. 2.4 feet on the gauge is considered to be the best playboating level at the lower, main hole. It can be surfed down to about 1.5 feet, and starts to flush out around 2.7 feet. However, at 3.0+ feet, a hole above this feature called Babylon begins to form that offers some good rides. Tville is, however, not without some areas for concern. There are a series of concrete bridge abutments that have been the site of a fatality due to a pinned boater. These abutments supported the bridge that connected Tunxis Ave. in East Granby to Tunxis Ave. in Tariffville. They are located on the river left and river right side of the river where it passes Tunxis Ave. They can be safely navigated down the center of the river, or for a more challenging and bumpy ride, on the river right side. They're not an overwhelming dangerous feature, but boaters should make a point to never come into physical contact with the abutments when traveling down river to avoid a pin. Previously, there was a broken dam downstream of the main play area. However, this dam was removed in 2012. More information can be found on the Farmington River Watershed Association's website. Hole to China Slide: Description from David Silk: At flows above 5.8 paddle across from just above the takeout bridge to the tributary on the far shore. Hike up stream and over the highway exit ramp to the top of the slide. The slide itself is ~60ft long and drops 15ft. Put in on river left in the pool above the tunnel, and check for wood on your way up.