Site Location:

Basic Information: 

The Eight Mile River has its source along a small drainage into several small swamps in an undeveloped region about three miles east of Bashan in the town of East Haddam, Connecticut (at Devil's Hopyard State Park). This source is fairly centered between Ackley Road, Hall Kilbourne Road, Usher Swamp Road, and Miles Standish Road. The Eight Mile River runs for about 14 miles to Hamburg Cove near Hamburg, Connecticut.

The East Branch begins 1/10th of a mile west of the junction of Route 85 and Witch Meadow Road, which is about 1 mile north of Salem, Connecticut. A popular paddling route begins about 3 miles southwest of Salem along Darling Road about a half mile southwest of the junction of White Birch Road. Most of the route is whitewater reaching Class III-IV at its most difficult with some flatwater and quickwater between the rapids. A take-out can be reached at the Route 156 bridge just before the river's confluence with the main flow of the Eight Mile River.