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Connecticut's Mystic region has fine state and local parks

Connecticut > Mystic Eastern > Outdoor Activities > State and Local Parks
Beachhead - Harkness Memorial State Park - Waterford, CT - Photo Credit Lyn Guerra
Harkness Memorial State Park

275 Great Neck Road - CT Route 213 Waterford, CT, 06385 Phone: 860-443-5725

This park is on the edge of Long Island Sound, occupying the property of the former Harkness family estate. The 230 acres include vast lawns, trees and wonderful gardens. Also, the family’s summer mansion known as Eolia. It is a Roman Renaissance Classical Revival-style mansion with 40 rooms, a pergola, and a carriage house (support complex). Lush gardens, including an Alpine rock garden, surround the mansion, which is open for tours from Memorial to Labor Day.
Property is open year-round, daily, from 8 a.m. to sunset. Parking fees are charged. The Verkades gate is for pedestrian access only. - Park Map (PDF)
Education Center - James L. Goodwin Forest - Hampton, CT
James L. Goodwin Forest

23 Potter Road - Off US Route 6 Hampton, CT, 06247 Phone: 860-424-3200

This state forest has an extensive trail system and lots of opportunity to see nature and animal life. Open for walking and hiking, bicycling, and horseback riding and boating on Pine Acres Lake. Trails begin at the Goodwin Conservation Center, off of Route 6 at 23 Potter Road in Hampton. The property includes a boat ramp on Pine Acres Lake. Property is open year-round, daily, dawn until dusk.
Hiking trails include wildlife gardens, a loop trail through woodlands, the Natchaug Trail, 10 miles of marked trails surround 135 acres of ponds and an orchard. Letterboxing is done here. Air Line State Park Trail is a level trail, good for hiking, cross-country skiing and horseback riding. - Trail Map (PDF)
Hopeville Pond State Park - Griswold, CT - Photo Credit RV Points
Hopeville Pond State Park

929 Hopeville Road Griswold, CT, 06351 Phone: 860-376-2920

Hopeville Pond is open to fishing and swimming. The pond has a boat launch. Picnic tables and bathrooms are available.
Hopeville Pond Campground has 80 camping sites in the woods. The season is April to September 30. The recreational field area is open all year. Pets are allowed on leash in picnic areas and on hiking trails; not in campground or on the beach. There is a weekend/holiday parking fee and a campsite fee. - Hiking Map (PDF) - Camping Map (PDF)
Beach View - Rocky Neck State Park - Easy Lyme, CT
Rocky Neck State Park

244 West Main Street (Route 156) East Lyme, CT, 06357 Phone: 860-739-5471

Bounded by a tidal river and a salt marsh, this popular summer park has a sandy beach for salt water swimming; walking trails to the marsh and to Baker's Cave, Tony's Nose and Shipyard; an elegant stone pavilion right on the water; and 160 wooded or open-air campsites. People can enjoy watching for wildlife and sea birds from platforms in the salt marsh. There is salt water fishing and crabbing. Visitors also enjoy plenty of places to have a picnic, and the park runs nature interpretive programs. - Hiking Map (PDF) - Camping Map (PDF)
Hours: Open year-round, daily from 8 am to sunset. Weekend/holiday and weekday parking fees apply from April to late September. There is also a camping fee at Rocky Neck State Park.
Explore Ice Castles in North Woodstock, NH! Click here to explore.
Lake View - Mohegan Park - Photo Credit Carlos Henao
Mohegan Park

189 Mohegan Park Road Norwich, CT, 06360 Phone: 860-823-3798

Norwich is known as the Rose City and the formal rose garden in this park commemorates this. The park has walking trails, pavilions and a swimming beach. Tennis players will enjoy free time on available on clay courts, which are lighted in the evenings. Open air ball field adjacent and horseshoe pit. Park is open daily, 9am - Sunset. - Trail Map (PDF)
Roseland Park - Woodstock, CT - Photo Credit Leanne Wong
Roseland Park

205 Roseland Park Road Woodstock, CT, 06281 Phone: 860-963-7690

This park includes 60 acres of wooded land and waterfront along Roseland Lake and Roseland Cottage, a historic home operated by Historic New England. Open daily, early morning to sunset.
Roseland Cottage is open for tours Wednesday to Sunday, June 1 to October 15.
River Falls at Mashamoquet Brook State Park - Pomfret Center, CT - Photo Credit Stuart Constantine
Mashamoquet Brook State Park

276 Mashamoquet Road Pomfret Center, CT, 06259 Phone: 860-928-6121

Popular state park with facilities for camping, swimming, and boating. Two campgrounds are open, offering a total of 73 campsites. Camping season is April to mid-October. Hiking trails and fishing areas are also available. Famous features of this park are the Wolf Den, and two natural rock formations: Table Rock and Indian Chair. An old grist mill remains of a little patch of mill buildings and shops that were mostly washed away in the 1938 flood. - Trail Map (PDF) - Campgrounds Map (PDF)
Bluff Point State Park - Groton. CT - Photo Credit CT Department of Energy & Environmental Protection
Bluff Point Coastal Reserve

Depot Road, off US Route 1 Groton, CT, 06340 Phone: 860-444-7591

Walking in wooded peninsula and along rocky coast; seabird watching; shell fishing allowed

Bluff Point Coastal Reserve is a wooded peninsula extending into Long Island Sound. The property offers both hiking in the woods and along a spectacular rocky coastline. Good for seaside views and watching seabirds. Plants at the headland are native beach plum, beach pea, and shore roses. This is protected property; access is only on foot. A permit is required for shell fishing. Permits are issued by the Town of Groton, at Route 1 and Depot Road. - Park Map (PDF)
Mansfield Hollow State Park - Mansfield, CT - Photo Credit John McAvoy
Mansfield Hollow Park

31 Old Willimantic Road Mansfield, CT, 06235 Phone:

Mansfield Hollow Lake is a 500-acre lake for boating and fishing. People also enjoy the water views from trails in the park. Swimming is not allowed because this lake is a source of drinking water. There is a boat launch ramp, picnic tables, and pit toilets. No parking fees. - Park Map (PDF)
Bigelow Hollow State Park - Union, CT - Photo Credit CT DEEP
Bigelow Hollow State Park & Nipmuck State Forest

298 Bigelow Hollow Road - Route 171 Union, CT, 06076 Phone: 860-424-3200

Bigelow Hollow State Park and the adjoining Nipmuck State Forest offer beautiful areas for hiking, picnicking, and enjoying nature in a forested area. The property encompasses Mashapaug Lake and Bigelow, Breakneck, and Griggs ponds. Boating and pond fishing are allowed. There are boat launches at Bigelow Pond and Mashapaug Lake. The Beaver Pond Campground is near Griggs Pond, off Eastford Road (Route 198).
Marked trails from Bigelow Hollow to the Breakneck area do not include a loop, so hikers should prepare to walk the full six miles. However, trails west of the park road both form loops. In winter, the trails are usable for cross country skiing and snowmobiling. - Hiking Map (PDF)
Shelter Falls Park - Mansfield-Storrs, CT - Photo Credit Ken Schulz
Shelter Falls Park

Birch Road Mansfield-Storrs, CT, 06268 Phone:

This tract of parkland is very close to the University of Connecticut at Storrs, offering an easy getaway for workers, students, and visitors to the university. It contains hardwood forest, wetlands, stone walls, and a nice hike along Cedar Swamp Brook to the waterfall at Shelter Falls. Nice place to stop for lunch and enjoy the peaceful woods. - Trail Guide (PDF)
Hiking Trail - Pachaug State Forest (Chapman & Green Falls areas) - Voluntown, CT
Pachaug State Forest (Chapman & Green Falls areas)

Entrance off Route 49 Voluntown, CT, 06384 Phone: 860-376-4075

Pachaug State Forest is composed of two sections, the Chapman Area and the Green Falls Area. Activities in the Chapman area include boating, hunting, camping, camping, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, picnicking, freshwater fishing, hiking, snowmobiling, horseback riding, horse camping, and letterboxing.
The Green Falls area offers boating, camping, freshwater fishing, hunting, mountain biking, and hiking. The Green Falls Campground has 18 wooded campsites; no reservations. Green Falls, Narragansett, Nehantic, and Pachaug trail sections pass through this area. - Chapman Area Map (PDF) - Green Falls Area Map (PDF)