The basolateral amygdala modulates memory consolidation for multiple types of learning including contextual fear conditioning (CFC). One of the BLA’s downstream targets, the ventral hippocampus (vHPC), has previously been shown to process emotion-related aspects of learning but whether the BLAàvHPC pathway modulates memory consolidation is unknown. The current study used a modified CFC task, which allows separation of the context and footshock learning, followed by immediate optogenetic modulation of activity in the BLAàvHPC pathway. Male Sprague-Dawley rats received intra-BLA injections of an adeno-associated virus containing the gene for either the light-sensitive membrane-bound cation channel channelrhodopsin-2 [ChR2(E123A)] or the outward proton pump archaerhodopsin-3 (eArchT3.0). For the CFC task rats received 3 min of pre-exposure to the entire apparatus on day 1. On day 2, rats were confined to one end of the apparatus, received an immediate footshock, and were quickly removed. Rats received 15 minutes of optogenetic immediately following pre-exposure on day 1 or footshock on day 2. Retention was tested on day 4. The findings indicate that optical stimulation of the BLAàvHPC pathway following context pre-exposure had no effect on retention but manipulation using trains of 40 Hz light pulses following footshock training enhanced retention. EYFP-control rats who received similar light pulses following footshock training exhibited no effect on retention. Furthermore, optical stimulation of the BLAàvHPC pathway in rats that didn’t receive context pre-exposure exhibited no effects on retention. Therefore, we conclude that BLAàvHPC projections influence the consolidation for the emotional, but not spatial, learning for a modified CFC task.