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    Kings Island Boat Launch

    3.0 (3 reviews)

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    9 years ago

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    Mill Pond Park & Pond - Google image of the Mill Pond

    Mill Pond Park & Pond

    3.0(1 review)
    6.3 mi

    Have past by the Mill Pond Park crossing over the bridge with my former 4H'r on our way to the Fair…read moreGrounds. Often thinking, this Historic Mill Pond and upstream stretch of the Scantic River must be tackled. That day finally arrived. A later Monday afternoon in July. Should be quiet. Wrong, the Park was bustling. Busy with Park goers: Nature people by the pond, one person enjoying their laptop on a shaded picnic table, kids on the playscape, other kids fishing with a parent and some with a grandparent, and then there were the kayakers loading and others unloading bound for and some returning from the same adventure. A great Small Town feeling. I unloaded and hiked my kayak & gear down to the boat ramp. Chatted with a few, the usual, the great weather, did you fish, how far did you go or plan to go. Public Safety Notice: 1. The upper side of the Mill Dam is dangerous and boaters are warned to stay clear. 2. If you're a first timer like I was, bring a GPS to track your route out and back. There are many dead-end coves and depending on the water level numerous ways to lose the River. There are Orange markers/blazes to follow the River Trail. 3. Wear your Personal Flotation Device (PFD). The Pond, in July was weedy and there was a great deal of surface algae in sections of still water. The main flow of the Scantic was fairly clear and on this trip the water level allowed easier passage across sunken or semi-sunken obstacles. Yes, bugs abound, but so do fish for anglers and foul for watchers.

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    Mill Pond Park & Pond - Watch for downed trees above and below surface.

    Watch for downed trees above and below surface.

    Mill Pond Park & Pond - Ewww, warm season algae bloom, actually explosion.

    Ewww, warm season algae bloom, actually explosion.

    Mill Pond Park & Pond - Site of the former mill building gone park.

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    Site of the former mill building gone park.

    Rainbow Reservoir - Rainbow reservoir

    Rainbow Reservoir

    3.0(5 reviews)
    6.1 mi

    First you should know that Rainbow Reservoir is not at 2 Walters Way, and that is a PRIVATE Road…read moreabout three houses before the entrance to the boat launch ramp. Rainbow Reservoir is a part of the Farmington River, and thus the blue algae bloom that happens in very hot years with low rainfall is not due to the very few land owners with property abutting the reservoir. There are miles and miles of the river that starts in Massachusetts, the longest portion of which is the West Branch, making the river a total of 84 miles long. Along all these miles, the river abuts all kinds of different properties from farms to industrial and residential. I am not saying that folks with abutting properties to Rainbow Reservoir don't contribute to the problem, but they are a drop in the hat compared to everything else that line the miles of the Farmington River. Another point I would like to mention is about the draining of Rainbow Reservoir. This is not done by "the town" as one reviewer said, and in fact even officials of DEEP have told me the State of Connecticut has very little control over the dam due to grandfather clauses. The dam is the property of the Farmington River Power Company, (the sole reason there is a reservoir in the first place, is because they built the dam in 1928 to make hydroelectric power). The power company drains the reservoir to do maintenance on the dam and turbines, and seemingly have little regard for the eco system damage they may or may not be doing. They also have little regard for the boaters and loath the land owners that line what they call "The Pond". Those of you who complain about the "high powered boats" may like to know that those folks have been using Rainbow Reservoir to ski on since the early 70's, a time when nobody used it to kayak the reservoir, and there were very few other folks using the reservoir. The reason the skiers continue to use "The Rez" is that it is one of the best places in CT to water ski and barefoot waterski due to the flat calm water. Those who waterski on Rainbow Reservoir actually have boats that purposely make small wakes for skiing, (which is obviously better for kayaks), and are geared down to pull skiers, not go fast. These skiers co-existed with fisherman in boats very well for years, because they both wanted the same thing, calm flat water. Now that anybody can be on the water with a cheap kayak, the kayakers, (aka new comers), complain about the boaters, and fill the long parking spots designed for vehicles with trailers, with single cars, with no regard to the fact that they are using a spot designed for a trailer rig, even when they kayak in groups with multiple cars and could stack their cars in one or two of the trailer spots to use less spots. They pay no boat registration fee that goes to building and maintaining boat launch ramps, nor do they pay anywhere near the property taxes and other taxes the boaters do on their rigs that go towards boating and fishing. Kayakers also need to realize that Rainbow Reservoir is a river and it is generally narrow, so 90% of the boaters use the Res in a counter clockwise direction for safety reasons, thus they do not want to veer off course to avoid a kayak and hit an oncoming boat instead. By trying to kayak down the middle of the reservoir, often in large groups spread 3 or 4 kayaks wide, on the wrong side, they put themselves and others in a dangerous position. If they would stay closer to the edges, and stay single file as the boaters generally do, it would be much safer for all. One last point that a kayaker probably doesn't think of, and that is draft. Rainbow Res has a lot of shallow spots, and the boaters cannot go everywhere it might seem like they could to the average person. These folks know Rainbow, and know what their boats draw for water. They have to stay in that "channel" so to speak. By the way, so that you don't think I'm anti kayak by this review, let it be known that we own four kayaks, one for each family member, and I sell them for a living as well. Share the water, there's room for everyone if we want to be respectful towards one another.

    July 2016. I am downgrading the spot to 3 from 4. I have been seeing parasites on the fishes…read morecaught here. Most recent trip m, 4?sun fish & one bass, everyone of them got parasites. Either yellow like grain of rice type or tiny black spots in meat. Do not eat fishes caught at rainbow reservoir! If you like fishing, I am sharing my fishing spot especially because I need to write good & useful Yelp reviews :) My spot is to the left of the rainbow reservoir boat launch. The boat is infrequent but the jet ski is a bit annoying to fishermen. However, the spot is productive if you can cast far enough, there is a steep drop off that goes down about 15-20 feet, all kinds of fish there. I've taken my kids there many times, caught sun fish, bass, carp, catfish etc. all at the same spot. Don't eat the bass!!! High Mercury content. Ok to eat sunfish & carp, but carefully check the fish for parasite as I've seen them last year, they look like little grain of rice but yellow in color, yikes! Other than that, it's really fun spot to take the kids & you can BBQ right there as well!

    Photos
    Rainbow Reservoir - Carp caught at Rainbow Reservoir boat launch

    Carp caught at Rainbow Reservoir boat launch

    Rainbow Reservoir - Sun fish

    Sun fish

    Rainbow Reservoir

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    Kings Island Boat Launch - boating - Updated September 2026

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