un jour / 520 miles / 17 heures 20 minutes
New England's longest, most powerful river tells the story of clashing continental plates and glaciers, of Abenaki living on the land, and of colonial settlement among fields and forests. Experience traditions, vivid history, deeply rooted farming heritage, call of the railroads, natural beauty, and recreation along the Connecticut River Byway.
Jour 1
9:00 - 47.5 miles / une heure 34 minutes - 10:34
This "Living History Museum" in Charlestown, NH, offers a
glimpse of what life was like when the Northern Valley was a
frontier in the mid-1700s. The Fort recreates life on the eastern frontier during the French and Indian War Era. Within the log stockade are province houses, leantos, a Great Hall and watch tower. Outside of the walls, visitors will find a working blacksmith shop and two 18th Century barns. Costumed staff bring to life the spirit of No. 4 with daily demonstrations of 18th Century skills.12:34 - 19.5 miles / 38 minutes - 13:13
The American Precision Museum is housed in a mid-1800s National Historic Landmark. Originally the Robbins and Lawrence Armory and machine shop, the museum preserves the heritage of mechanical arts, celebrates the ingenuity of our talented forbears, and explores the effects of their work on our everyday lives. It holds the largest collection of historically significant machine tools in the nation and offers demonstrations.
14:13 - 15.2 miles / 30 minutes - 14:44
New England Transportation Museum and Historic White River Junction
Located at the White River Junction railroad station and Waypoint Interpretive Center, the museum illuminates the heritage of railroading. Each Fall, White River Junction celebrates its railroading history with
Glory Days of the Railroad, a day-long festival centered around the historic railyard. Outside the Colonial Revival style, brick station (circa 1937), stands the Old 494, a restored locomotive engine that hauled passengers and freight in the valley from 1892-1938.15:44 - 5.7 miles / 11 minutes - 15:55
Dartmouth College and Hood Museum of Art
Located in Hanover, NH and founded in 1769, Dartmouth is the state's oldest college and the nation's ninth oldest. It is the northernmost of the Ivy League colleges and one of the most prestigious. Its campus is among the most beautiful in the country. The traveler will find dozens of historic buildings along with the Hood Museum of Art, one of the oldest and largest college museums in the country, all set in the classic New England downtown of Hanover, New Hampshire.
16:55 - 397.7 miles / 13 heures 15 minutes - 19:10
Northfield Center Historic District
The center for commercial activity and residential development in Northfield began and remained along Main Street-- now the present-day Northfield Center. The Northfield Center Historic District retains the character of a 19th-century village and includes thirteen 18th century and 68 19th-century buildings. The Northfield Center Cemetery is also highly historic with grave stones dating from the town’s early history in the 1700s.
20:40 - 2.3 miles / 4 minutes - 9:45
Northfield Mountain Recreation and Environmental Center
Northeastern Utilities owns and operates a 1 hour and 30 minute narrated boat cruise that brings visitors past the
stunning French King Gorge and historic Barton Cove along a beautiful stretch of the Connecticut River.
During the tour, the interpreter acquaints visitors with the geological and natural history of this section of the
Connecticut River corridor.11:45 - 11.1 miles / 22 minutes - 12:07
Montague Center Historic District
Montague Center is a picturesque village with 234 properties that date from the 18th and 19th century in the National Register Historic District, including a range of architectural styles and community buildings such as
the Congregational Church, Town Hall, Grange, Masonic Hall, and Main Street School. The Montague Mill is a very popular tourist destination that contains two restaurants, a bookstore, and shops located in a historic mill.13:37 - 5.4 miles / 10 minutes - 13:48
Sunderland & Hadley Farm Stands
The byway route in general is steeped in the traditional agrarian culture of the region and the farmscapes continue to be the essence of the corridor’s continuing rural character. This section of the byway from Sunderland center to South Hadley allows visitors to sample local agricultural resources that are the livelihood for several farm families and landowners along the byway.
14:18 - 0.2 miles / - 14:18
Mount Sugarloaf State Reservation
Mt. Sugarloaf State Reservation offers a commanding view of the Connecticut River, the Pioneer Valley, the historic and picturesque Sunderland Center, and the Pelham and Berkshire Hills. From its summit can be seen some of the best scenic views of the broad agricultural landscape of the Connecticut River Valley and of the 18th and 19th-century settlement patterns of the picturesque Sunderland Center.
16:48 - 6.8 miles / 13 minutes - 17:02
Porter-Phelps-Huntington House Museum
Built in 1752, the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum is a Georgian period house with a long history of ownership by well-to-do farmers and land owners of the Connecticut River Valley. This historic house portrays the activities of a wealthy and productive 18th-century household. Account books, diaries and other records created by the generations provide a rare insight into their farming and domestic practices as well as agricultural and social life in the Pioneer Valley.
18:32 - 1.9 miles / 3 minutes - 18:36
Hadley Center, settled in 1659, is a National Register Historic District that contains more than 800 properties, including fine examples of residential architectural styles, a historically intact town common that
stretches almost one mile in length, a Greek Revival town hall, church and school buildings. Archaeologists have discovered indications of an early palisade erected around the common to protect the settlement during King Philip’s War.20:36 - 0 miles / 0 - 9:36
The Hadley Farm Museum is located in a restored 1782 barn in Hadley Center. Dedicated to preserving and exhibiting elements of the region’s Colonial farm life, the museum features the first broom-making machine, spinning wheels, a cobbler’s bench, a restored stage coach, and other historical artifacts of times gone by. The interior of the barn is a fine example of early American barn architecture with huge hand-hewn beams, wooden pegs, and rough-sawed boards and planks.
10:36 - 6.9 miles / 13 minutes - 10:50